I don't know that it's going to work with a broiler, as you'll likely brown the top too much. You might be able to get away with your oven as hot as it'll go and a pre-heated pizza stone.
As for broiler temperature -- I don't think I've ever set mine to anything less than all the way up when using it. (but then again, I have an electric oven)
Toaster ovens are awesome. For a toaster oven, there are three key features:
- Big enough to fit the largest item you'll cook.
- Convection, so food cooks quickly and evenly.
- Enameled or stainless/aluminum interior. This lets you use harsh abrasives to keep it clean.
It's a given that your oven should have bake, broil, and roast modes.
For size, you'll probably want it big enough to comfortable fit a 1/4 sheet pan, or a 9" x 12" brownie pan. That will allow you to bake. Much bigger and it will take up a huge amount of counter space and realistically you should use a full oven for the big stuff. Too small and you'll have to fire up the full oven for everything, which defeats the purpose.
Convection makes a huge difference in toaster ovens; because they're so small, they are more prone to uneven heating than normal ovens, and leak heat out the front. If you open them to move food, they'll lose most of the heat, and take a while to get back up to temperature without convection. Convection lets you cook faster and more evenly.
For cleaning and long-term use, you need to be able to scour off the burned-on crap with steel wool or other harsh abrasive. Otherwise the oven will quickly become so unsanitary that it must be replaced, and nonstick finishes never last. The bottom will, of course, be lined with aluminum foil for easy cleanup of drips.
Oh, and rotisserie is a useless gimmick. I've had it on ovens, and never used it yet. Other people may have different experiences with it, of course, but that's my $0.10.
Best Answer
They're the same thing - convection ovens are also known as fan-assist ovens (see for example wikipedia), since they're basically an oven with a fan. Maybe what you had previously was marketed as a fan-assisted oven, and threw out the phrase "conventional cooking" to emphasize that you can still do everything you conventionally could. But it sounds like you're just talking about two different convection ovens here.
More likely, the problems you're having are to do with either the convection being more efficient in your new oven, or the temperature control being off on one of the two. Ovens aren't always perfect, so likely your new oven is hotter when you set it to a given temperature than the old one. It might also have a more efficient fan. You can probably learn to adjust by trial and error - reduce temperatures, and check things frequently until you figure out you've gotten it right. It might also be helpful to grab a thermometer and see if your new oven is lying to you about the temperature.
(If you were previously using non-convection recipes in a convection oven, without adjustment, then your old oven was probably either too cool or its fan wasn't doing much. If you were adjusting recipes for convection previously, then maybe your new oven is hotter than it should be.)