For a use like that, I'd say a bigger display would be much better. For not much more, you could get an entry level laptop with a much larger screen (maybe suggestive selling for bigger prints that way? )

A ~$600 laptop would get the job done, but editing images would be fairly slow. Might not be a bad idea to upgrade the RAM to 1gb and make sure it has a CD burner for photo use - if budget allows.