USB Sound Card Advice

[amjedm]

Need an external sound card for a laptop as the onboard sound doesn't work. I can't troubleshoot the problem as the laptop is in another country a few thousand miles away.

There are loads of small USB sound cards on ebay for around £5 and am wondering if one of these will do the trick - just need to connect speakers and a mic at most. Quality of sound doesn't have to be brilliant.

Alternatively, would I be better of with a more expensive sound card for £20ish or over?

Thank you.

[Biscuit]

For the sake of driver availability and genral reliability of the device i would say spend a little extra and get a half decent brand at least.