New T60p - only one speaker works?

Hi, I just got a new T60p in December, and it's slowly dawned on me that, assuming this laptop does have stereo speakers, that only one of them is working. If I hold it up to my ear only the left one sounds like it's working, and if I change the balance all the way to the right, I hear nothing. I do get both channels on the headphone jack.

Before I make a service request, a sanity check - am I correct that I should be getting output from two speakers? And are there any XP driver-type things I can try before sending it in for service? (I'm a grad student so I hate losing it for a while, plus I'd hate for it to turn out to be a checkbox I missed somewhere).

Thanks! -MG.

 

you should get stereo. return/exchange it or take it in for repair. if it was mono, it would merge the left and right channels, and the balance should have no effect.

 

Thanks for the confirmation, I'll get it in for repair.

Best, -Mike G.

 

I would guess that the wiring is not connected properly to one of your speakers--send it in as suggested.

 

OK, I sent it in, got it back, and now I have a new $&#* problem.

The right speaker now works (yay.) However, when I mute or unmute the sound, there's a loud pop - from the right speaker! (the one that wasn't working before).

It also pops when the machine turns on, and when dialing the sound down or up (it pops when you hit the 2nd or 3rd "volume bar" setting). This pop also appears when listening on the headset jack. I don't think it popped before this "fix", but I wonder if this was a problem during manufacture and they just disconnected the right speaker to "fix" it.

I tried a few changes to the audio properties like laptop vs. desktop speakers, but nothing has gotten rid of it.

OK, here's my question: IS THIS NORMAL? If not, I'll send it in AGAIN. (And I'm starting to get pissed off with Lenovo service; it took a lot of time off work trying to get my package to and from DHL, even though it was all "free").

Thanks gang, -mgrusin.