I'm thinking of a Surface for SL. Don't worry about the sound quality
Just accept you have to use buds, Bluetooth or good old analogue, 3.5mm Jack.
If all you are doing is attending a lecture then note card the lecturer. Turn on your emails then you'll have a way to chat without the main SL client. Request the slides and chat log, easy enough to ctrl+c out to .txt. If they use a audio you'll have to attend.
Apologies if I'm teaching Granny to suck eggs. I see you have a gaming rig.
I have no internet to speak of so resources are scarce for me. But I'm tempted to get a Surface anyway and try it on my dodgy 3G.
Gertie