my msi wind and osx audio workaround (plantronics audio 480)

(thanks Q for the skin!)

if you have a msi wind and are running OSX Leopard on it, you probably have found out that yes the speakers work but the mic and headphone jacks do not.

as of right now, there is no software workaround known and most likely never will be (joel in the comments pointed me to this thread at msiwind.net on getting headphone working natively! no mic though ). 

so, what do you do if you still want to be able to use headphones and a mic?  do what i did, get an OSX compatible usb audio device; keep reading for a quick demo of the Plantronics Audio 480 System (newegg link approx $50)!





the plantronics audio 480 system is basically just a headphone set w/mic and a usb audio dongle w/a mic in and headphone out.  the most important thing about this system is that its 100% OSX ready out of the box w/o any drivers, that alone sold me!

below is a video of me using it w/screenflow on my MSI Wind.  i was able to score my set for $22 but normally its around $50.  it also comes w/a case to hold the headphones/mic and the usb dongle and extra earbud inserts.

[youtube SmI1c5J6XOY]

if your really ambitious you could most likely replace the current audio system in the wind w/this or perhaps mod it in (main thing would be able to find usb power and header; i plan to use the wind touchscreen info as a basis for my hack).  if i get that ambitous i'll be sure to post my results.

quality of audio and mic seems decent but i'll have to use more to give real feedback. enjoy!