Missions & Complexes

Long before the "drone nerf", I was terrible with drone management. I forget them when I warp out, I don't pay close enough attention and they get popped, etc.

I was wondering if there are ships that can handle lvl4s without drones. It's the frigates that scare me.

Thanks in advance.

Mid size weapon ships (t3s, hacs, field commands), mach, or refit your existing battleship for better applied dps on smaller/closer targets and less outright dps, though given enough time if you reduce your dps, you'll be suffering an opportunity cost loss that can eventually add up to the same as a ship loss.

ie if you were making 25mil/hr and your revised "safer" fit makes 20mil/hr, and a ship loss costs you 150mil, then in 30 hours of running your revised ship, you've effectively lost it anyway.

I have heard of using a BS with a Jump Drive to get 100km away then pop the frigs and if they get to close jump again

For not using any drones at all I'd suggest the Tengu (Used to run it before I lost in during war ) just remember that if you get webbed your pretty much screwed in a level 4 so you'd need to kill all the frigates first (that aren't triggers). In some cases it is actually better to kill a webbeing trigger and just speedtank the new spawn.

If your looking for more of an "I might need to go AFK while killing rats" ship I've heard the SNI is a good one (never used it myself) or alternativley the Nighthawk, it gets a good passive tank but not great on DPS so it can take a while to completely finish a mission.

Another option would be a Golem / Varguar (Depending on what you prefer) I would say.

I too tend to be a bit forgetful. A spouse that thinks she is more important than the game and a job where the clients think the same thing doesn't help. That's why all my ships are uber-tanked and cap stable - inefficient than all get-out, but at least they are still on my screen when I can get back to the mission.
A lot of this just reinforces what others have said (I fly all of these currently):
The SNI is a great ship. A bit less DPS than the CNR, but a lot more forgiving tank. Keep a two flights of Hobs in the bay and some precision ammo in the hold for those pesky frigs. And, of course, control aggro so that you're not in a hurry to make the webbers/scramblers go away.
The Tengu is also wonderful. With it's small signature and high AB speed nothing can really hit it. Here, killing the webbers are of most importance, and are your primary targets when you get in a room. If you make them dead then if rl comes a'calling, you can orbit something an know your ship will be there when you return. And with no drones to worry about, you'll really love it. It is not the fastest mission completer, but I do have more fun in it than my other ships.
Don't rule out the CNR, however. You'll need some isk to make its tank SNI'ish, but it will complete the missions faster. Something to consider later on in your Eve life.