As I mentioned a few months ago, if you're forced to use a mic input with no other possibilities - and you're absolutely certain the laptop sound chip doesn't have software that can make the input jack a dual purpose one (mic or line input, as my Dell Latitude E6400 can do - I choose what type of input level it is using the software for the sound chip, the IDT stuff) - then your best possible solution to keep the signal path clean or as clean as possible is to use an attenuating/attenuation cable, either one you buy or one you make yourself.
The post is here (but there's some discussion of audio input levels in the thread as well and iirc one post even links to a diagram to build your own):
http://forums.radioreference.com/digital-voice-decoding-software/280577-dsdplus-8.html#post2108795
I've used those for many years primarily with scanning and radio inputs/outputs because in some situations, especially "the good old days" when I would record audio to actual tape sometimes I'd have no alternative but to use a mic input for a line-level output signal so without that attenuating cable the signals were always distorted to some degree or another.
Again, if you must use a mic input and have no other alternatives available, using an attenuating cable is pretty much a must-have type of thing if your source is line-level output.
But definitely look into the software provided for your sound card or chip on the laptop - if it's a Realtek based solution, or IDT aka Intel/Realtek/Sigmatel, or perhaps even something else, there's a chance that the sound software may allow the input jack to perform double-duty where it can handle mic or line-level inputs depending on how you set it.
Pic related as it's what I see with the IDT sound control software if I select the mic/line input (Mic is bolded because that's what I used last for a headset) - I can choose which one I prefer so I know there are other sound chips and software out there that have the same capability, you just have to do some digging and perhaps use the sound card/chip software provided by the laptop maker and not the company that actually manufactured the chip itself. The drivers alone aren't enough, you will have to install the actual software for controlling the card/chip to find out.
Hope this helps...