T60 audio issue - help!

I got my T60 widescreen yesterday, and like it for the most part. I am having an annoying audio issue, though, and after I got impatient trying to get through to tech support I decided to post it here instead.

I find that as I am listening to audio (in my case, an mp3 of the Stern show), I start to hear clicking and popping from time to time. Once it starts it tends not to stop, and will also affect things like routine system sounds. It is intermittent and only happens sometimes.

I tried installing the latest iteration of the audio driver (which I believe was updated in early December) to no avail.

Does anyone have any bright ideas on how to get to the bottom of this?

Thanks!

 

You are hearing the clicks and pops through the laptop speaker? What if you plug in headphones into the audio out jack? Are the clicks/pops there as well?

 

I am also getting them through the headphone jack. I note, as well, that there are sometimes dropouts in the sound that last as long as a few seconds.

 

I just got off with the Lenovo tech support people, and it was such an annoying experience that I am seriously considering returning the machine. They indicate it needs to be sent in for service anyway, but reaching that conclusion necessitated spending about an hour on hold and talking to three different people, none of whom seemed to know what they were talking about. I will call them tomorrow and see how tenacious they are about the restocking fee. Honestly this has been a really frustrating experience, and if the ownership experience with a high-end Thinkpad is, as mine has been so far, worse than with a low-end Dell, Lenovo has a real problem.

 

I had same problem on my desktop once.
I fixed by going into control panel --> Sounds and audio devices --> Volume panel, in the volume panel there is a selection called the speaker settings ---> go to Advanced and select a proper setting for you sound system setup.
If that doesn't help play around in the Speaker volume option in the speaker setting selection.
Another solution to this is if you have a volume control on your speaker or headphone, turn the volume way down, while the volume control on your computer is at max.
Hope those helps. Good luck

 

Thank you...I too had this problem and changing the speakers from Desktop to Laptop - stereo fixed it for me.

Scott

 

I tried this last night and it didn't work. Thanks for the suggestion, though. I think I am leaning toward getting rid of the computer and starting over with something else - we shall see.

 

Can you return your laptop if it has been opened? I bought mine thru EPP which I know you can't return.
Scott

 

I believe so. I bought mine at an EPP price, but it was through a Discover Card promotion rather than an actual EPP. If I can't return it I will have to work through the warranty process and either try to learn to love the machine or sell it.

 

I suspect the issue I'm having is similar or identical to the one discussed at http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/12/23/161800.php. I have also had problems with my wireless connection being dropped, and my guess is that the wireless card may be the cause of both problems. I may try updating the wireless drivers to see whether that helps at all.

 

I am returning my T60 WS. I was just disgusted with the quality of the service I got from Lenovo's call center. Other things being equal I like the idea of having the call center in the US, but if the service I get in Atlanta is that poor, give me India every day of the week and twice on Sunday!

On the bright side, the software to return the T60 to factory spec worked very well - that really is a cool feature - and the CS person was very helpful and friendly regarding the return. Interestingly, the sound problems returned the first time the computer rebooted after its self-formatting with the sound driver loaded. It must be a hardware issue.

I am thinking about buying an Asus - I was really soured on the whole experience with Lenovo.