Well, amazingly it seems I did get those places right!
I took the tram up to Victoria Peak but I think you can walk up if you're feeling energetic. Great views over the city and harbour on a clear day.
The laser show is called the Symphony of Lights - not sure if it's on every evening or just some. I got the Star Ferry over to Kowloon to see it and the view of the skyline from the Kowloon side is pretty incredible, especially at night.
To get to Lantau island, I got the train out to Tung Chung and then I took the Ngong Ping Cable Car. It's quite touristy round the Big Buddha itself but if you go on to the the Po Lin monastery and the wisdom path walk it's lovely and very peaceful.
A guidebook would definitely have more info on all those places. I didn't have one as I was only there for a few days at the start of a trip to Australia so I didn't want to cart one around the whole trip. So I just googled stuff beforehand and got a map at the airport and I was fine. I did find it tricky finding places to eat dinner though so a guidebook would
have come in handy then!
I stayed in the City Garden Hotel which was pretty nice (back in 2011 anyway!). I booked it through a travel agent so didn't really do any research into other hotels, just went with what they recommended. It wasn't the cheapest but it was in a good area, pretty central. I used the metro to travel to most places and bought an Octopus card (HK equivalent of Oyster card) for the few days I was there.
Hopefully someone else will be along soon with more suggestions! Enjoy your trip, it is a great place and I'd love to go back someday.