The term Saute' is a french word meaning "to make jump". You see, when you saute something it means to cook on high heat with a little bit of fat (oil, butter, "I cant believe its not butter" etc....) The idea is to saute something that will be eaten right away. For instance, you would saute' stir fry. You wouldn't saute' a lamb shoulder. You may sear a lamb shoulder, but thats a different lesson.

When buying a saute pan its very important to buy one with a thicker bottom (not necessarily copper) and a sturdy handle. The whole idea here is to have a pan with flexibility in temperature. If you are cooking with a pan with a very thick bottom, then it will be uneasy to cool the pan down. Often times when cooking I make whats called a beurre fondue after I've sauteed whatever I was cooking as a sauce. In order to do that, cool the pan down by taking it off the heat and adding 3 to 1 butter to water, while doing a swirling motion. It takes all of the fond from the bottom of the pan and incorporates it into a buttery, shiny, sexy sauce. Its impossible to make a beurre fondue with a pan that is too hot. Your sauce will break...... That is very depressing... On the other hand, a pan that is too thin will not last as long, and in cooking will change temperatures too often. Which also causes sauces to break. And what is dinner without sauce??

So, in retrospect..... I would suggest for first timers, or old timers that keep burning stuff.... Don't buy the pretty one, or the giant one, or those stupid little 1 egg sized ones. Medium is versatile. Look at your shipping weights.  Two to six pounds........ I hope this helped. I will never have my own cooking show, or become a rockstar, like I planned, but as a songwriting, restaurant manager, ex- gourmet cook with culinary school experience,  I will make something of myself, even if its ebay advice