[Trsvis_Bickle]

Well, I finally got something more modern than my old Nokia 6200 and bought a Huawei G300. It's a nicely manufactured phone but the Android ICS software appears, on first impressions, to be a sack of shit.

Take something as simple as adding an email account. I've got an old hotmail account and, when I go to settings>accounts & sync>add account>email, I enter addy and password. I then get the message 'Couldn't finish Can't connect to server. I'm offered the chance to edit details and choose POP3 from the 2 options then offered. The POP3 server automatically populates to POP3.hotmail.com so I correct it to POP3.live.com. Port is shown as 110 and Security type as none. I hit Next and, again, get Couldn't finish Couldn't open connection to server. I've tried it several times now with a good wi-fi connection, as well as a strong signal and get the same result. I've enabled data switch etc.

Am I missing something here? OK, for £85, I wasn't expecting the smooth functionality of more expensive kit but, apart from the inability to do something as simple as add an email account, the browser is slow and jerky. Heck, I can't even log in to Digital Spy with my Digital Spy account; I have to use a fakebook account (I do have one but I never visit fakebook for obvious reasons). And I have to download and install a DS app, apparently, even then.

It's at this point that I see where the apple fanboys are coming from; I've added that same email account to an iPod, iPad and iMac with no problems whatsoever. Yeah, apple don't let you tweak things or customise them but I'm not interested in customising everyday items like computers and phones, anymore than I'm interested in customising my fridge. I just want these things to f*cking work out of the box.

And breathe.

Seriously, can anyone see where I'm going wrong with the email thing? I only want the phone for calls, texts, emails and a bit of browsing when I'm away from wi-fi, which is why I wasn't prepared to pay apple's ludicrously overpriced costs for mobile telephony. However, the G300 seems to be a rather expensive paperweight at the moment...

[November_Rain]

Try changing the port to 995, and selecting TLS/SSL for security type.

[Trsvis_Bickle]

Originally Posted by November_Rain

Try changing the port to 995, and selecting TLS/SSL for security type.

Just did that and got the same result but thanks for the suggestion.

[pi r squared]

Originally Posted by Trsvis_Bickle

Heck, I can't even log in to Digital Spy with my Digital Spy account; I have to use a fakebook account (I do have one but I never visit fakebook for obvious reasons). And I have to download and install a DS app, apparently, even then.

There is no DS app as far as I'm aware, and I have no difficulty logging in to DS with my normal account - have done through various iterations of Android and various browsers without issue. Might be worth trying again.

[November_Rain]

Originally Posted by Trsvis_Bickle

Just did that and got the same result but thanks for the suggestion.

I don't know if this is any help but have a read of it anyway and see if there's anything you're overlooking.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/h...om-mail-client

Alternatively try out Aqua Mail which has automatic configuration for Hotmail.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...kFxdWFNYWlsIl0.

[Trsvis_Bickle]

Originally Posted by pi r squared

There is no DS app as far as I'm aware, and I have no difficulty logging in to DS with my normal account - have done through various iterations of Android and various browsers without issue. Might be worth trying again.

Just checked again. If I try to log in with Facebook, I get the DS logo, Digital Spy text and some stuff about 'Using this app requires:'

Your basic info (whatever the f*ck that is)
Your email address (I prefer not to share that)
Your profile info (Jesus, I just want to talk bollocks on DS, I'm not looking for needy stalkers)

The colours are DS as well so I don't think I'm mistaken. There's also an 'install' instruction - looks like an app to me. I really want to resolve these problems so might there be something incredibly basic I'm missing? I had to buy £10 Vodaphone credit in order to get the handset; could the operator bloatware or settings have ballsed up basic operations?

[Trsvis_Bickle]

Originally Posted by November_Rain

I don't know if this is any help but have a read of it anyway and see if there's anything you're overlooking.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/h...om-mail-client

Alternatively try out Aqua Mail which has automatic configuration for Hotmail.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...kFxdWFNYWlsIl0.

Look, thanks for that but the first link is a perfect example of why non-geeks like apple stuff. I quote:

If port 25 has been blocked in your network or by your ISP, you can set the SMTP port to 587 with TLS or SSL Encryption (depending on which email app you're using).

I mean what the actual f*ck? I don't even know what a port is in this context, never mind the significance of the particular number, or even what the rest of that quote means.

I sense that you do IT stuff in your everyday life and that speaking to me feels like a talking to a retard but I really struggle with the constant reinvention and complication of what is meant to be consumer stuff.

[pi r squared]

Originally Posted by Trsvis_Bickle

Just checked again. If I try to log in with Facebook, I get the DS logo, Digital Spy text and some stuff about 'Using this app requires:'

Your basic info (whatever the f*ck that is)
Your email address (I prefer not to share that)
Your profile info (Jesus, I just want to talk bollocks on DS, I'm not looking for needy stalkers)

The colours are DS as well so I don't think I'm mistaken. There's also an 'install' instruction - looks like an app to me.

It isn't an "app" in the app on your phone sense of the word; logging in using your Facebook details basically means that Facebook sees DS as an "app", and the info you see is just the standard Facebook app permissions fare. Hundreds of people on here presumably have signed up via Facebook, but you don't see email addresses and profile info floating about all over the place so I guess it still remains private (obviously Facebook needs to share your email address with DS so that you can receive email updates, etc., directly from DS). This is not Android specific (or even Android related - the same would happen on the glorious iPhone) but completely platform agnostic.

With respect to "I can't even log into DS with my normal account" - can you be more specific about what error you receive here?

[November_Rain]

Originally Posted by Trsvis_Bickle

Look, thanks for that but the first link is a perfect example of why non-geeks like apple stuff. I quote:

If port 25 has been blocked in your network or by your ISP, you can set the SMTP port to 587 with TLS or SSL Encryption (depending on which email app you're using).

I mean what the actual f*ck? I don't even know what a port is in this context, never mind the significance of the particular number, or even what the rest of that quote means.

I sense that you do IT stuff in your everyday life and that speaking to me feels like a talking to a retard but I really struggle with the constant reinvention and complication of what is meant to be consumer stuff.

Did you try out Aqua Mail? It's super straightforward, you just sign in with your e-mail address and password as per usual and it does all the rest for you.

[Trsvis_Bickle]

Originally Posted by pi r squared

It isn't an "app" in the app on your phone sense of the word; logging in using your Facebook details basically means that Facebook sees DS as an "app", and the info you see is just the standard Facebook app permissions fare. Hundreds of people on here presumably have signed up via Facebook, but you don't see email addresses and profile info floating about all over the place so I guess it still remains private (obviously Facebook needs to share your email address with DS so that you can receive email updates, etc., directly from DS). This is not Android specific (or even Android related - the same would happen on the glorious iPhone) but completely platform agnostic.

With respect to "I can't even log into DS with my normal account" - can you be more specific about what error you receive here?

Thanks for the facebook explanation - I guess I just never use facebook to any degree so I don't know what to expect to see.

Re the BIB: a white box appears superimposed over DS with part of the username/password dialogue visible. I can manually drag the login details to the left so that the boxes are visible, I tap on one of the boxes, see a blue outline (presumably indicating that the box is selected) but the keyboard doesn't appear so I have no means to actually enter text.

[Trsvis_Bickle]

Originally Posted by November_Rain

Did you try out Aqua Mail? It's super straightforward, you just sign in with your e-mail address and password as per usual and it does all the rest for you.

Sorry, old bean - I didn't get that far. I tried adding the email account yet again the next day and it finally worked.

It does seem a bit odd that you need to hunt around for advice and yet more bits of software just to do something so simple. It's early days but, judging from some of the threads on here, Android isn't so much a decision to buy a phone but rather the start of an IT hobby.

[November_Rain]

Originally Posted by Trsvis_Bickle

Sorry, old bean - I didn't get that far. I tried adding the email account yet again the next day and it finally worked.

It does seem a bit odd that you need to hunt around for advice and yet more bits of software just to do something so simple. It's early days but, judging from some of the threads on here, Android isn't so much a decision to buy a phone but rather the start of an IT hobby.

Glad you got the problem sorted. Any idea what is was after?

[Trsvis_Bickle]

Originally Posted by November_Rain

Glad you got the problem sorted. Any idea what is was after?

No idea at all. Just when I had concluded that the only value I was going to get out of the G300 was the satisfaction of stamping it to pieces, I yet again entered the email account details and the expected screen came up. I'm beginning to realise that Android takes a bit more perseverance than apple stuff but I'm quite warming to Google Play and the variety of stuff that's available.

[Trsvis_Bickle]

Originally Posted by November_Rain

Did you try out Aqua Mail? It's super straightforward, you just sign in with your e-mail address and password as per usual and it does all the rest for you.

Sorry to bump this but I got sick of the slowness and unreliability of the G300 and upgraded to a Nexus 4 (brilliant phone). I gave the G300 to my wife () and now I'm having the same problem setting up her hotmail account on it. I installed aqua mail, entered name, email addy and password but I'm getting authentication errors on both the incoming and outgoing servers. Details are definitely correct. Any ideas?

[Everything Goes]

Originally Posted by Trsvis_Bickle

Sorry to bump this but I got sick of the slowness and unreliability of the G300 and upgraded to a Nexus 4 (brilliant phone). I gave the G300 to my wife () and now I'm having the same problem setting up her hotmail account on it. I installed aqua mail, entered name, email addy and password but I'm getting authentication errors on both the incoming and outgoing servers. Details are definitely correct. Any ideas?

Worth trying this:

http://www.ambrose-services.co.uk/bl...r-android.html

[Trsvis_Bickle]

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

Worth trying this:

http://www.ambrose-services.co.uk/bl...r-android.html

Unfortunately there is no menu option on my phone for 'ExchangeActiveSync' which is what your link relies on to work. Thanks anyway, though.

[pi r squared]

The new(ish) Outlook.com app might be your best bet.