what operating system is on your laptop? The reason I ask is that some (many) USB input device drivers stopped working in Win 7 x64 bit OS

The upshot is:

1) if you are running win 7x64 you should make sure to buy a device that has a driver for that OS

2) if you don't have win 7x64, then check craig's list or Ebay, because a LOT of people who recently bought new computers are now unloading the USB input devices that no longer work on their new systems. You might pick something up for practically nothing.

Search for keywords like USB AUDIO INTERFACE