One day, two problems.

First off, the touchpad "rattles", as if it's not on very securely. Also the spacebar squeaks. This is an HP ENVY laptop. My girlfriend got a very similar one in December and it's great with neither of these issues.

Second, I can't enable stereo mix on the sound card, which is a disaster for radio. That's what I use to take calls and to connect the co-hosts.

I tried the usual things such as updating the drivers and making sure it's showing all disconnected/disabled devices. It's just not there.

Tried to call HP tech support. They had to transfer me to the "Smart Friend" department, which is some software department which helps computer illiterate people figure out how to use their machine (for a fee). Unfortunately these assholes wanted to charge me to figure out how to enable stereo mix -- on a 1-day-old machine!

I objected, then the guy cold-transferred me elsewhere.

I escalated the case. I told them I'm not paying to learn the obscure way to enable a feature which was supposed to be enabled in the first place.

If anyone has any ideas, let me know.