Recording output from my MPC1000 to laptop

Ok so i got a cable thats a 1/4 inch jack and one end into a normal headphone kinda socket and stuck it from my mpc1000 headphone output to my laptop microphone socket. I know this wouldn't be the best way, but I expected it to work as a stop gap just to show a few friends my beats before I got some proper cables! I mean it kinda works, but the sound is awful, and I mean really all **** up, garbled, actually broken. Normal output from that socket in headphones works perfect. Maybe my laptop is a piece of shit or maybe this is an awful way to go about recording. What are the ideal cables to be using and into what input in my laptop? Or is recording into a laptop with no specialised audio card always gonna suck?

Thanks...

I use a MACKIE mixer with USB, i have to deal with latency issues, but with a little tweaking i can get good quality. And also, Is your 1/4 to 1/8 cord, dual? If not, try a dual 1/4 to 1/8. I only use that type of cord to play FROM my laptop.