Yes, I have checked to make sure it was not the ear buds. I have used 2 different pairs, each work fine on my other computer.
My laptop was very recently upgraded to Windows 8.1. Since then, the audio jack has not been detecting my ear buds. This has not happened before.
Also, I know there are a lot of laptops with "Inspiron 15," but I don't know exactly which one this is. If you could tell me how to find it, I'll do it.