Dell Inspiron 1525 3.5mm audio jack down. Best Alternative?

Hi. I have two 3.5 mm audio jacks on my Inspiron. From both of them I only get audio signal on the left speaker. When I loosen the connection, the right speaker gets some signal but the bass is completely gone from both.

It happened to both jacks simultaneously. Don't know whats wrong.

Anyways, I was wondering what would be the cheapest alternate solution, if any, to get sound to my speakers that accept input through a 3.5mm jack.

A. Something through the USB port.
B. Something though the HDMI port.

Don't know if either is possible...

 

Between A and B, I'd go with A. I've never tried it myself, but I feel like I've read about people having problems trying to get sound out of their HDMI jack... On the other hand, I think USB headphones are fairly cheap and reliable?

You could also try using like an ExpressCard sound card and using standard headphones with it.

 

ExpressCard is probably the best bet if your machine can wing it (not familiar with your model), but probably a bit pricier. It's also less annoying than USB, since it only sticks so far out of the machine and can probably remain in the slot permanently.

Alternatively, get a headset that comes with a separate USB sound card dongle, not one where the USB port is on the headset cable itself. You get jack and the standalone card, so you can also plug your speakers in instead.