Laptop speakers not loud enough. What can I do?

I cannot hear the voice prompts while driving. Very aggravating. I have the volume on full, unless I am missing something. I hooked up a pair of mini external speakers. I could hear but I have speakers, wires and netbook were cumbersome in the vehicle, as you can imagine. Not the answer. Any suggestions? Does anyone else have this problem?

Thanks in advance

Zeke

This is a common problem with laptops.
Several choices come to mind:
1. An external 12v amplifier and speaker
2. If you have an input jack on you car radio, run a wire to that
3. Use a small FM transmitter and receive the signal on your FM car radio
4. Headphones

Terry

Often Streets & Trips users say the program is not loud enough. Once I actually did a side-by-side comparison of DeLorme Street Atlas and Microsoft Streets & Trips. SA is so much louder than S&T. Other programs seem to be louder than S&T, too.

The above aside, Terry has very good suggestions.

There are also differences between laptops. Some are louder than others.

Recently at least two different manufacturers announced netbooks which will include an FM transmitter, so users will be easily able to wirelessly connect them to the speaker system of their cars or trucks.

Thanks Terry & Marvin,
I appreciate the suggestions on my audio problem.I do have a good set of headphones so I will probably resort to that {Terry's suggestion 4} as I don't have an input jack on my vehicles's radio.
I wish my netbook included an FM transmitter.
I was interested in Terry's suggestion about using a small external FM transmitter.How,exactly would that work?I know nothing about this stuff.
Also,Marvin,which netbooks include an FM transmitter?
Thanks again guys

zeke

The choice of the term headphone was probably inappropriate. Using ones that could block out other sounds could be dangerous, and possibly illegal. Since you only need to hear a direction every once in a while, a single earpiece might be a better choice.

There are a variety of small 12v or battery powered FM transmitters available these days due to the popularity of mp3 devices. I have several including one from Canadian Tire built into a light duty invertor.

Generally you plug the laptop sound output into the transmitter, set the frequency to something unused in your location and tune your car radio to the same frequency. If you are in a large city, it might be difficult to find an unused frequency. Also, as you move from one location to another, you may have to change the frequency as other stations appear on your FM band.

Terry

Hi Zeke,

I bought a Belkin similar to this one. It will run on batteries and it also comes with a 12V adapter to plug it into the car.

...ken...

There were two announced recently. One is going to be Asus EeePC T91, a 12" touch-screen, built-in GPS receiver, TV tuner, and an FM transmitter.

The second one might have been a Dell mini laptop, but I don't recall exactly.

Another way - Belkin makes tape deck adapter with a jack that goes into your laptop/MP3 etc. If you have a MACHO stereo in your vehicle, hang onto your shorts because this baby really works! MP3 FM digital sound is phenomenal.

Musta hit the wrong button!
If you play a DVD movie on your laptop and plug this puppy in your Macho stero - Presto - Theatre Sound Surround ! Cost of cassette adapter - $19.95 @ WallMart.
Cost of FM adapter - $68 to $99. Your choice!

On further thought:

If your vehicle has an input jack you will need a cable/cord with jacks on both ends- one for laptop and one for vehicle - Now there's something to source out.

Let's call it a JackJack!

I had one of those cassette adapters. On a long trip the clicking drove me crazy after a few hours, so I tossed it in the trash at the next fuel stop. That was a few years ago so maybe they've figured out a way to stop that clicking as the capstan in the tape deck spins.

Of course my vehicle now has a CD player in it so a cassette adapter wouldn't work anyway. The Belkin FM unit I have now was Cdn$32 and does a nice job.

The problem with either of these is that you can't listen to the radio. That's okay if you would rather listen to MP3s off the computer, but if you really want to listen to the radio you're out of luck.

...ken...

And the problem with listening to audio files is they don't pause when the GPS program has information. So you might not hear it anyway. I'm sure there is a way around that but haven't found it yet.

Terry

Okay

Now what about a Jack/Jack ?

There is a software solution for this, I just don't remember the name of the program. I came across it a couple of years ago. People in CarPC communities use it to automatically mute MP3 player(s) while navigation software is giving voice directions prompts.

The earphone idea is best, in my opinion. You don't need to spend the big bucks. Get a small in-the-ear earphone and only wear it in one ear. You can even take it out a great deal of the time because your program can tell you how far til the next event. When you're getting close, put the earphone in. You certainly don't need it on long stretches with no turns, etc. You probably already have a single earphone around the house somewhere. If you spend more than about $2.00 for one, however, you've spent too much.

Wearing headphones that go on the ears or cover the ears can be dangerous. You need to be aware of sounds around you.

They are also illegal in many jurisdictions for just that reason.

...ken...

You're right, Ken. The law in Georgia just says earphones. It says nothing about covering the ears. But, since more and more jurisdictions are requiring hands-free phone use, it can be a Catch-22 situation.

On the other hand, it's a law that's never been a high-priority for law enforcement.

That's true, but it can change at a moment's notice, at the whim of the local law enforcement agency.

Use of turn signals has never, in my experience, been any sort of priority for enforcement anywhere I've ever driven. Not in nearly fifty years of driving. But there's an article in the local newspaper this morning that for the month of March our city police are going to be enforcing it aggressively.

You just never know....

...ken...

I understand, Ken. I spent 31 years as a cop. The mayor gets one complaint and.... Well you know.

Incidentally, I've found that some of the worst turn-signal offenders are cops.

Since some software could generate louder sound than other software, I knew the speakers in my laptop were capable of generating loud enough sound. I did a quick search on the web for "laptop sound software amplifier" and indeed I found one.

There may be others that do the job equally good, or better, but this is the one I installed, and briefly tested with Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009.


SX Fidelity Amplifier by Sound Genetics http://www.soundgenetics.com


There is a trial version available to download. Try before you buy to make sure it does what you want. US$19.95 to register.

Installation was quick and painless. The software can start each time Windows starts, and it can be run minimized to sys tray, so a user just needs to configure it once and forget about it. It allows for up to 12 dB of amplification, which I though was very generous amplification. I was surprised how loud my laptop was! I suspect not too many people will have the need for the maximum 12 dB amplification.

I think $19.95 is a very reasonable price. It saves you from having to buy a set of external speakers, or an FM transmitter, or headset, or a new laptop with louder speakers.

I have the same problem with volume, while in a truck stop the other day, noticed they have a single speaker about 5"x5", with a 12v connection, used to increase volume on a cb radio........But it has a mono mini plug, wonder if it would work with
my stero output on the laptop, also would like one they runs on batteries, getting way to many cables around the truck.

I have a single channel 12v amp with a small speaker in the dash. It is mono and works fine with the computer or pda. I just hooked up one channel (I think left) but it shouldn't matter which one you use. Voice instructions in mono are fine.

Terry

So.... if I plug a mono plug into a stero output on the laptop it will work but I would only get mono output, mono Is totally fine, just need the volume. The speaker was 5.99 or so. The laptop is just a tad week, so I cant really hear, left/right, kinda defeats the whole setup
Thanks Terry

Go into your speaker properties under Sounds in most versions of Windows. Sounds, Playback, right click on your PC speakers, chose Properties, Enhancements, then check Loudness Equalization.

Hi UW, and welcome to the forum. Yours may be the best suggestion on the topic for many users! I never knew about the Loudness Equalization option, so I was interested to test it, but I was skeptical.

To test it, I launched an online radio station player, set the volume very low, so I could barely hear it. I then enabled Loudness Equalization, and WOW, the sound became noticeably louder. I'm now eager to test it with a navigation program running on my laptop in the car tomorrow!

Thanks so very much for joining the forum to share this tip!