How do I hook this up laptopmonitor 1796

MB Although it depends on the monitor's inputs, there's a very good chance you can. The cable you need depends on the inputs to the monitor; your laptop almost certainly offers VGA out and possibly S-Video out. Chances are the LCD you bought has either a VGA or a DVI input port; if it's a VGA you're in good shape, all you need is a standard VGA cable. If the monitor only offers DVI in, you'll need a VGA to DVI converter; these are fairly common, but you'll need to go to a place like Fry's (outpost.com) or newegg.com. There are multiple versions of DVI, so be sure to get the right one (just look at the input to the monitor and get the one that matches pins).

Actually, yes, there is. To play a DVD, the screen must be the primary display (there are ways around this, but in general this is the case). The simplest method is to turn off the laptop's LCD (on my D610, I do this by pressing Fn-F8). In Windows XP, another method is through Display Properties (access it via Control Panel or right click on an empty area of yor desktop and select Properties). From there the last tab let's you choose the primary display.