Hi

Yes it is true that laptops do not have midi sockets.
But I think what the guy in the shop meant, was if you buy a musical or controller keyboard you will get a USB to HOST connection and midi can be sent to the laptop that way via one of the usb connections.
Some Yamaha keyboards no longer have normal midi skts only usb to host

The DGX660 piano for one.
To my mind this is a backward step, not every one wants to connect to a pc. You may want to connect via midi to another midi device external to the pc.
I wish manufactures would not consider a new way of doing things as a replacement instead of an extra option.

I well remember when I first got a DGX 620 some years back being so disappointed that it only had usb to host, I had just assumed it would have normal midi as well.
That taught me to scrutinise the specs of new models not to see what was new but see what they had left off that you would expect to be there.
Rant over mad
Have fun
Mike

BIAB2021 UltraPlus,AsusN55S1Tbssd, W10/64,Akai EIEpro
Yamaha CVP405,SquireStrat, CoolsoftVMidSynth
Novatation Impulse61 Ctr kbd, Cwalk blab Kontakt

http://mikesmusic.byethost16.com/