The recording quality on my laptop is very low, and I've been told I can fix it with a new sound card. Open to suggestions. Hoping to spend less than $100.

I got a TASCAM US122 for free a while back. Ebay sells them dirt cheap. Old ones aren't technically supported on new windows, but it still works.

It's what I use, sounds good. It's a USB solution. I'd recommend against M-Audio simply from experiences of my friends and first hand encounters with them having issues like 'robot audio' where the buffer gets out of sync with playback, issues with programs not taking advantage of it's higher sound quality, etc.

But yeah, US122 gets my vote. Others may have more optimistic things to say about M-Audio, but that hasn't been the case in my neck of the woods.

lots of people go with the focusrite 2i2. i personally have a 2i4.

i'm using steinberg ur22 its pretty diesel for $150 but i'd recommend the roland duo capture ex for even better sound- that's $200

Thanks guys! I think i'm going to go with the Tascam US 122. I probably will order a used one tonight. Gonna put these Amazon gift cards to good use!