Laptop Headphone Jack Physical Damage

[thinwhitedupe]

I dropped my laptop and it landed on the side where headphones were plugged into the headphone jack. So, I'm fairly certain this is physical damage. Now when I plug headphones fully into the jack (I've tried multiple different headphones/earbuds and they work fine on other devices) the sound plays fine on the left side and very faintly on the right. I can play around with the connection (such has not plugging it in fully) and get the sound to work properly for a while, but with slight movement it can go back to normal sound on the left/faint sound on the right.

This seems like something I may be able to fix on my own, but I'm not sure what to do or what to look for. Any help would be appreciated.

Would I be better off taking this to a repair shop? Cost isn't really a major issue for me, but do you think it would be worth it?

I've purchased a usb sound card as a temporary solution, but I would prefer to have the jack working again.

Thanks.

Edit:

Thanks for the answers so far. To answer the questions: the laptop is a Dell Inspiron 15R. Purchased 3 years ago, but it has an i5 4200U and 8 GB of RAM, so it still works great for my needs. I wasn't planning to replace it yet. And yes I'm in the west (Canada).

 

[jsmithepa]

This seems like something I may be able to fix on my own

Oftentimes I tell people, it's *just* a mechanical thing, you can fix it! EXCEPT in this particular case you are dealing with a very small mechanical thing and the bent stuff are INSIDE.

I would attempt to look inside and whether I can fashion a tool to UNBENT whatever is bent. A tool can be a very simple "L" hook fashioned of a small paper clip.

I also wish to tell your, oh just run to Radio Shack, buy a replacement jack, but unfortunately these are not universal, and by that I mean how they attached to the motherboard. You may wanna open it and look. Opening laptops can be tricky, chances of you disturbing very small cables, connections high. You are taking a risk.

Would I be better off taking this to a repair shop?

You don't say where are you posting from. I wager in the West, nobody repair this stuff, they tell you to buy a replacement motherboard.

Cost isn't really a major issue for me, but do you think it would be worth it?

How should we know how much it bothers you? or the age of this laptop? you may not plan to keep it much longer?

I've purchased a usb sound card as a temporary solution, but I would prefer to have the jack working again.

At least you are not dead in the water I suppose, and you can always go Bluetooth?

 

[ssddx]

sounds like physical damage as you said.

it could be a small board that can be replaced that connects with a ribbon cable or it could be something that is soldered on. if you can get the part you could fix it yourself. the problem isnt so much the fixing it part but finding the parts to do the fixing. i know they make for instance solder on 3.5mm jacks but if its the right one for your laptop i dont know. or, take it to a shop if you do not feel confident to do this repair.

is it worthwhile over using a usb audio stick? not usually as onboard audio on laptops is generally so-so at best. its more of a convenience decision more than performance.