Strange Mic Problem

Hi -

I recently acquired a brand new Inspiron 518 with a realtek HD audio card and would like to record some audio. However, the right channel is not picking anything up.

The balance of both the front and back mics are centered and when I play my guitar and mic through the amp the headphones work fine through both channels. i.e. if I plug the mic directly into the computer I still have the same problem.

Like I said, all the balances and volumes are set correctly, and if I push everything to the right there is little to no sound.

It seems to me that something is wired wrong in the computer, but I wanted to cross check it with a broader audience.

Any help would be appreciated, there is very little out there on this subject.

Thanks
az