I found several examples of stereo tests on youtube using the "stereo test" search. They certainly work on my headphones. Good luck! On Thu, 19 Mar 2020 at 10:55, Don Tai via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

The specs on this laptop say that it is stereo. I'd be surprised if it was not.

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/model/NX.GNVEK.009

You could download Audacity and try recording in left or right only channels.

On Thu, 19 Mar 2020 at 06:42, Ken Heard via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

...

I think that this particular laptop has mono sound. I have been using it temporarily to stream content by HDMI to a LG HD monitor and then by fibre optical cable to a NED D3020 V2 hybrid amplifier and finally to a pair of bass reflect speakers. Unfortunately sound comes out of only one speaker.

After extensive tests I have determined to my satisfaction that the problem is in the laptop. I can test the two speakers built in the laptop separately, but I have no way of knowing whether the sound so produced is mono or stereo. I could find no specs for this laptop with details about the sound card.

Lack of such specs indicates to me that Acer does not want people to know that this laptop is mono only. Is mono sound the norm for low market laptops such as this one and notebooks?

Ken Heard --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk

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It could also be the monitor that is mono. Try another monitor with the same HDMI cable. Don. On Thu, 19 Mar 2020 at 11:42, Ken Heard via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. The laptop definitely is stereo. Earlier this evening (Thursday) I disconnected the fibre optic cable between the monitor and the amplifier. I then plugged in a pair of cheap earphones into the monitor and played some music. Only one ear received any sound.

It looks as though the HDMI cable is the culprit. The next step is to connect another HDMI cable between the laptop and the monitor. That I will do tomorrow morning (Friday).

Regards, Ken Heard I --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk

On 19/03/20 11:26 PM, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:

| From: Ken Heard via talk <talk@gtalug.org> | Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 22:42:29 +0700

| ... Earlier this evening (Thursday) ...

+0700 -- where the heck are you? Siberia? Indonesia? Vietnam? Thailand? Tuva?

Yes we are in Thailand. My spouse and I live here from the beginning of November to the end of the following March. This year our plans were forcibly changed. We were to fly from here to Europe on 27 March for a three week visit there and arrive back in Toronto on 21 April. By the 27 March the countries in Europe we were to visit had already closed their borders to just about everybody. So much for the Europe part our return. The rest of it was effectively cancelled by the Turkish Airline. Since we had booked our return flight through expedia.ca any changes or cancellations had to be made the same way. As soon the rush back to Canada started expedia.ca would only talk to customers booked to fly within the next seven days. So within seven days we called again; this time the seven days had been reduced to 72 hours. Even so, by the time we could talk to an Expedia.ca agent the airline had already decided for us by cancelling until further notice all flights between Bangkok and Istanbul -- normally there are two each day. A few days later their daily flight between Istanbul and Toronto was also cancelled until further notice. The lockdown in Thailand began in mid-January, about seven weeks before the European and North American lockdowns. During the Chinese new year holiday, which this year was the fourth week of January, the Chinese come to Thailand by the plane load, because is is about the only place invitingly warm enough that time of the year where they (and Russians for that matter) can visit freely without visas. When they get here they get what is called a 'visa on arrival' stamped in their passports. About 95% of visitors from both those countries come on package tours. China however in mid-January cancelled all package tours from China to all foreign destinations. China did so essentially to protect their own people and keep the virus from spreading beyond China's borders. It however wreaked havoc on the Thai tourist industry, especially in all the beach resorts including Pattaya where we are. There is a large Chinese community Thailand; Chinese people are always travelling back and forth between the two countries, Thailand was in fact the first country outside China to have a confirmed case of COVID-19. So far Thailand, with almost twice the population as Canada in a much smaller area, has less than half the number of recorded cases and deaths attributed to COVED-19 than Canada. All things considered we easily determined that we would be much better off here than in Toronto, staying in our Pattaya condo. Bought in January 2012, it cost us all of CA$60,000 to buy and equip it. Condo fees, taxes, etc. are about CA$400 a year. Within an hour's drive there are ten golf courses. The lockdown here is much more relaxed than in Canada. More services are still available here but not in Canada. Maintaining physical distance is preached but not really heavily enforced; people here do the best they can nevertheless. It is possible to visit people as a small group. No one seems to know the supposed maximum size of the group; it depends on whom you ask. At home we can stream movies, documentaries, etc. and read e-books. We are also using the time here to upgrade in various ways the amenities of our condo. We are anything but bored. A big factor is the climate. There is some anecdotal evidence that the contagiousness in a hot and humid climate is significantly less than in places where the average temperature is less than 10 degrees. If we had been in Canada since mid-April we would be much more restricted in our movements because of the weather and everything else imposed on Canadians from abroad such as fourteen days isolation if we were to go back anytime soon. Our three main sources of information about the pandemic are The Economist and the Toronto Globe and Mail, both newspapers, and the TV Ontario's Agenda, a current affairs program on TV, in our estimation the best of its kind in North America. From these information sources it appears to us that for health reasons some form of lockdown could continue to the Autumn of 2021. Unknown is once the health problems are abated how long it will take international air travel to recover. If we can go back in the Spring of 2021 we will probably do so. If however we have to wait to the Autumn of 2021 we will probably stay here for another Canadian winter and go to Canada in the spring of 2022.

Teksavvy services there?

Yes indeed we can and do get Teksavvy services here, for both incoming and outgoing email. We have fibre optic from our condo building to the switching rooms of the ISP. The last 100 metres or so from the fibre optic in the building to our unit is still coaxial. What can be somewhat variable -- sometimes more than somewhat -- is the quality of the signal from that switching point to the rest of the world.

Keep safe!

We try. Regards, Ken Heard