Bob here.  I’m not one to resist a bargain.  Ok, actually I am, but not in this case.  When I heard that HP was discontinuing production of their TouchPad line of tablets (click here for details) after only 7 or so weeks on market, I leapt into action.  Ok, actually, I did nothing.  But when I heard that HP was selling them for around $100 apiece (down from about $500), ok, now that got my attention.

Yesterday, my TouchPad appeared.  The first thing, of course, was get it connected to Office 365.  And that’s what this blog entry is about.  Keep in mind that the TouchPad is based on the webOS, both of which were given HP buh-bye.  But connecting to Office 365’s email is pretty simple.  You go through these steps:

First, you’ll need to know the actual server that your Office 365 account is hosted on.  To do this, go to a workstation (something with web access):

  • Log onto Outlook Web (www.Outlook.com) with your Office 365 credentials
  • Click on “Options” in the top right
  • Select “See All Options…”
  • Click on “Settings for POP, IMAP, and SMTP access…” in the middle left of the screen
  • Under “SMTP setting” you’ll see a “Server name:”
  • That gibberish to the right is the server name “pod51022.outlook.com” as an example.  Right that down!

 

(Ok, now we’re working on the TouchPad)

  • Ok, hopefully you’ve set up the internet access already (or this will be a short trip)
  • Tap the launcher icon (bottom right)
  • Tap the “SETTINGS” tab on the upper right
  • Tap the “Accounts” icon
  • Tap the “Add an Account” button
  • Tap the “Microsoft Exchange” button
  • Tap the “Manual Setup” button
  • For the manual setup, you’ll be asked for 5 things:
    • Email Address:  That would be your email address.
    • Server:  “https://”  and the server for your email account (see note above).  So using that example it would be https://pod51022.outlook.com
    • Domain:  Leave blank
    • Username:  You email address
    • Password:  that would be your password.
  • Tap “Create Account” to finish.  This should take maybe a minute.
  • By default, email, contacts, address lookup and calend are synchronized.  Change that as you will, then click “Create Account.”

 

Famous last words, you’re done.  Pretty simple, huh?  Hopefully this was helpful!