Oh, other thing this can sometimes be, which I completely forgot about until now, is ipod specific headphones have a slightly longer jack than normal headphones, and can in some cases damage the inside lining of the headphone port. Most of the newer laptops have a hole internally at the end to accomodate them now, but HP laptops in particular are notorious for being damaged by ipod headphones. Could be completely irrelevent, but its another thing to look at.