Given that the built-in microphone on my Thinkpad is pretty terrible, I was hoping to get a separate plug-in one that'd make Skype calls less of a painful chore. Seeing as the laptop only has the one audio plug I'd need to use a wired headset, but would much rather be able to continue using my CX300 headphones and just find a wired inline microphone with a passthrough socket to let you use whatever headphones you like. I couldn't find anything suitable on Amazon or eBay so thought I'd check to see if anyone here knows if something like that exists? Many thanks in advance.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004YEWC...de=asn&creative=22218&creativeASIN=B004YEWC22 I've got that one, and it seems to work fine, just as good/better than the mic with my old headset, no brainer for the price really
That looks great but it doesn't appear to have a passthrough socket for headphones? Kind of a requisite I'm afraid
Alternatively try a desktop microphone like a Logitech? My brother, mates and I all use this for Skype, Teamspeak and Mumble and it's a great mic with good clarity and no rustling or feedback due to leaked noise from headphones. This is a separate unit and will allow you to have your headphones on and a mic activated separately as it's USB.
I would but I only really use my laptop in bed; my desktop's got a dedicated webcam which works perfectly, I just need something cheap and compact that is actually audible. My girlfriend's laptop had the same problem and I managed to buy this for next to nothing to solve it, but unfortunately I don't have the luxury of a separate mic port. Thanks for the help so far anyway.
Is that one port actually a combined port or just for headphones? If it's not an all-in-one port then it isn't going to work. How about a usb one?
It's a combined port that can support headsets yes. A USB microphone would theoretically be fine but for the fact that the added cost and size of having an ADC chip and circuitry would probably make it impossible to find one discreet enough. Edit: Just found and bought this. Not sure how crappy it will turn out to be but considering how decent the £3 mic I bought for the girlfriend was, this could easily surprise me again. Either way, £2.50 isn't gonna break the bank.
You can also get one of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004SP0WAQ/ or similar, to split the 4 pole 3.5mm headset plug to 3.5mm stereo and 3.5mm mic plugs. The iPhone one should work fine though.
