Line-in recording on Vista/7 laptop - use USB device?
 

I want to do some line-in recordings on my laptop (for both convenience and practical reasons), but when I tried to simply connect my Wii's audio cables through my adapter to the mic-in port, the audio was overgained and cracking without any way to adjust the input sound level.

Does anyone have any experience with any USB sound devices, such as the ones at Newegg?

Chances are your mic-in port is being overwhelmed by the audio signal. If you have a "Line-in" port on your computer, try using that.
On many computers, the impedance matching of line-in vs mic-in is drastically different, with the mic port being much more sensitive.

As for usb sound devices, just check the reviews and make sure the device matches your requirements. Generally, a higher sampling rate and resolution can produce better audio. (Though there is no guarantee on that. Some companies can really slack off on filtering.)