Re: Newbie with small hands, yes I'm a girl.
This is not going to be a really direct response, but if I felt I needed a shorter scale (frets closer together). easy to fret neck, I'd go looking for a good-condition, used Martin Style A mandolin. You would pay closer to $800 than $400, but if the instrument didn't work out, you could almost certainly get nearly all your money back on re-sale.
I have a 1918 Style A, and it's probably my most comfortable mandolin to play. The neck, while a bit "deep" by some post-truss-rod standards, is really easy to get around on, the scale is a bit shorter (more like a bowl-back's), and the sound is sweet -- not bluegrass, by any means, but clear and with excellent volume.
Of the newer instruments, I think that Eastman A-styles probably have a slightly more Donald-friendly* neck, so I second the recommendations above.
* I believe he has very small hands, allegedly; some people say that... (jus' kiddin'!)
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
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