First off....do a lot of research.
Just thinking that you can effectively mine Bitcoin on a laptop suggests that you have a lot to learn, but take it from us, don't mine anything on it unless you are willing to see a seriously reduced lifespan for the laptop.

Crypto-currency isn't the easiest thing to get into for a  complete newbie, so I suggest that you start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency
and then go here:
http://coinmarketcap.com/all/views/all/
take the top 10 currencies on CMC and research them all thoroughly.
CMC provides website and forum links for each currency, just to make it easy.

Once you've done that lot, you should have a basic understanding of the crypto-currency scene.

This is really more of a alt coin at this point with VPS.  Sadly CPU/GPU day's are over.   Cost just does not equal.  Even if you somehow manage a profit ROI will not happen on gear.

Now talking about VPS mining your paying a premium for that CPU and you will bring in cents most likely.  And spend dollars.   It does not equal.

If you are wanting to start without having equipment you might look at renting gear, or cloud mining (go with safe company).  And you could start with that.