How do I tranfer pictures and videos from an LG 500 cell phone to a lap top?

This is a new phone and the book that came with it just seems to barely cover basic use. I have a Samsung and I can do this via a cord that has a UHB end and a smaller plug end that goes in the phone and the pics just import to Picassa quickly. I see no way to do this with the LG and I don’t want to burn up minutes sending each pic and video by messaging. Can it even be done? I’m not a geek of any sort so please make it so a layman can understand. I do have a sandisk memory card in the phone so all media goes straight there and saved.