Originally Posted By: Jim Fogle
Some laptops have a combination (combo) jack that can be used as either an input (guitar, keyboard, microphone, etc.) or output (headphones). You use the Windows audio controls to disable one function and enable the other.

While you can use the laptop jack it would far easier to use an audio interface with a USB connection.

Typically these combo jacks have a 4-conductor 3.5mm headphone jack, the 4th conductor being for the mic input. These are usually set up for use with "gaming"-style headsets, so even if you do get an adapter to patch in a guitar you'll end up with "voice" quality guitar recordings, which is not very good. A proper audio interface (such as Focusrite, Steinberg, MOTU, etc) is the way to go.

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