Panasonic NVGS60 mini dv camcorder

Question

I have just bought a panasonic NVGS60 mini dv camcorder and am having trouble connecting it to my Sony Vaio VGN FZ11m laptop. It did not come with any cables or software. I have tried using a USB cable and nothing happened, then I bought a 4pin to 4pin firewire cable and still nothing. My laptop has the 4pin connection and has vista premium, Do I need to get special software or what? I tried using the sony content importer that is already installed on my computer but it keeps saying no camcorder connected.