A further thought. If you're not happy dragging a full-feature laptop along (issues with theft and the risk of dumping water on it), how about one of these
ASUSTeK Computer Inc..
The 4Gb version is now available in the UK for 229 GBP. You'd still need an external HDD, but that wouldn't cost much. This might give you more photo manipulation than some of the other options.
I'm getting one for my birthday apparently, so I'll let you know what it's like in a month's time :-)
Cheers,
look forward to your report.
all the best.