Well turns out the power supply is dead, god rest it's soul. about an hour ago it left us. This is my second amplifier in almost as many months. this thing sets on a glass desk and never moves.  It is good to see tho that the quality in craftsmanship carries over from the laptops to other Dell accessories. I would have hated to be disappointed.

          However not all is lost. Thankfully I bought it at Amazon who has +++ customer service and answered all my questions in a timely fashion. Even after an existing replacement they did not hesitate to get yet another amplifier out to me ASAP. Will be arriving by Tuesday, and can you believe it she spoke English! life is good. I asked about my laptop return policy and explained that it is another fine Dell product and being less five months old I had the feeling it was sure to die next. She assured me there would be absolutely no problem in a product exchange ;) gotta love ole Amazon.

Thanks again for all the help!