Problem with my new SONY VAIO VPCEJ2B1E/B laptop's inbuilt microphone.

[snowy32]

Hey I bought a SONY Vaio VPCEJ2B1E/B.CE 3 days ago. last night I when into a voice call with my brother on MSM. The inbuilt mic worked for about 5 minuets then just suddenly stopped working without me changing any settings at all. I've checked all the basics such as the mic levels is it muted, set on low volume Etc. Here is a pic of the mic levels http://i41.tinypic.com/qqu79v.png  I also checked the Conexant Smart Audio HD drivers, they are all up to date. But I can't find anyway of making the mic pick up any sound at all. I checked other programs such as Skype and I even checked the voice recognition program neither one of them pick up any sound from the microphone. I have also bought a 5 year anything happens insurance cover for this laptop but before I contact the retailer or the insurance company I was wondering if anyone had any idea of what could be wrong with this laptop's inbuilt microphone.

Any useful suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks for reading and have a good day.