Hey hey hey!
Glad to see someone considering coming back to EVE. If you want, I can hook you up with a 21 day buddy account. I'm always looking to bring people in/back in. (And that free month is reeaaaal nice too.... 
)
1. For the monies, it's only $20 for EVE. That's 1/3 the cost of your average retail game.
2. My advice for dealing with the community, is a: don't get too involved in the forums, especially in the crime & punishment. Also, stick in the starter corp. Yes, that is a 10% tax on your earnings, but you're war dec free and drama-free (unless you're a SWARTAN. In which case, everything goes.)
3. S'only like 2 gigs, right? It can even run off like an external hardrive if you can't wedge it in. I currently own a passport 300 or so gig one, and it runs fine off that.
4. What to do? Anything. But my advice, if you're pressed for money to pay for gametime IRL, is mission. Stick to PVE for a while, as you gain skills. Mission running is mad profitable, and pretty safe as long as you use mission guides and know your fits. This is why I'd advise going Caldari. They're the best PVE pilots in the game, and the Drake is to die for. Maybe you can supplement with mining when you have stuff to do, a standard old Osprey can rival a mining barge in yield. This strategy will work well in avoiding losses and maximizing isk: I'm on my 3 month, and I've only had to pay for the initial activation.
5. Just remember, when you turn off EVE, it's just a game. When you turn it on, it's srs busness.
But really, dealing with ragemonsters on EVE is just to laugh it off, and let it go. Sure, that was a 30 million ISK ship you just lost. That's okay, a few hours missioning will replace that. And like I said; pve and staying in starter corp will greatly minimize the drama and negative people. Unless you go out looking for trouble in lowsec, etc. Then it's your fault. 
All in all...come back! Tyrannis is about to be released, so there's a ton of new options and fun stuff to try out, Incarna is supposed to be coming out sometime soon (as in within the next decade, heh), a whole galaxy of awesomeness is just waiting out there. Come back! Be a SWARTAN!
Cadalancea
"He who lives by the sword shall die by my knife. That's prophecy, if you like."
-Caine, Heroes Die
