(I'm posting this here after being recommended to from elsewhere.)

Hi,

I've had the M15x for a few weeks, and I have to say the ride has not been easy.  Flickering lights (fixed), intermittent wireless connection (either a Windows or Wi-Fi card problem, not fixed) and now I've noticed the internal microphone sounds AWFUL.  I've Googled about and others are saying it's good and clear, so either mine is broken or Dell have skimped on parts lately.  It's a shame because the webcam is fine, and although I have an old mic I can plug in it would have been nice not to need to, especially on the move.

I first noticed on Skype because somebody said it wasn't even tolerable.  Indeed, I could HEAR the background noise from their own computer (even Skype detected a vast amount of noise and told me).  My voice generally sounds muffled, but yes, it's the overall noise that's killing it.

Here, let me include a link to a small recording, with me keeping quiet:

http://encodable.com/cgi-bin/filechucker.cgi?action=landing&path=/&file=awful.wma

Is it broken, or just rubbish?  I would have assumed broken would mean cracks and pops and the like.

Thanks for any assistance provided on this matter.  I've paid a LOT of money for this gaming laptop so it's a shame to have this sort of thing, especially as my ten+ year old microphone is considerably better.