If your laptop doesn't have an SD slot (or you have another kind of memory card that doesn't fit in), then all is not lost – you can just do what the professionals do!
Buy something with USB 3.0 like this Transcend model, as this will connect to most new computers and is able to transfer images at a much faster rate than if you use an older standard.
You'll usually see a pop-up dialog when you plug a reader in for the first time to start copying your pics across – the only thing you need to do is decide where to put them.