well, i find jpad to be the best.

http://www.modelworks.com/

there is also textpad. www.textpad.com both are lightweight editors,
which i prefer compared to bulky jbuilder/together/netbeans.

Its just a matter of preferance. textpad/jpad do not generate code for
you. they dont even have method popups, but why would you want those?

you hit the nail on the head when you said you didnt know how to use
netbeans, code generators take a while to learn, you also have the
hassle of creating project files.

give jpad a go, its not freeware but there is a trial version. dont
buy it until you have given it a good test and compared it to other
editors.

also give linux a look, there are a wealth of over 1,000 text editors
for linux, so you cant complain about lack of choice!