Can a 3 pin 3.5mm jack splitter provide headphone and microphone jacks?

[rywi]

Hello,

I am considering to buy a 3.5mm splitter for my laptop, which only has a single 3.5mm jack that supports both microphone input and sound output. I found this option in a cheap local electronics store:

I have very limited knowledge on sound connectors, but I believe a 3 pin splitter like that should not be able to work properly, a 4 pin splitter would be needed. Can someone confirm or disprove my belief in regards to this?

 

[faalin]

ask them if you buy it can you bring it back if it doesnt work. Its hard to say what jack is in your laptop if its a 3 of 4.

If its a 4 then you have more digging to figure it out. as it could be Left,right,mic,ground or left,right,ground,mic even then most packages dont tell you what each ring does.