If your laptop has HDMI (some new ones do) then, yes, you should connect using an HDMI cable - otherwise do what neildownx suggests. (The VGA connector is sometimes labelled with an icon of a projector).
many thanks for your help folks, it is a fairly modern laptop, new version of fujitsu siemens amilo, not expensive mind you so i willl need to check and see if it has the relevant connection ports available.