Why is Mail such a pain?

Question

I got my MBP back in December. I've been avoiding setting up Mail because of the hassle, and because I wasn't sure I needed to have my MBP get that bogged down in its functions (audio and photo).
So, anyway...last week, I found I needed to go ahead and set up Mail.
I can't do squat with it, outside of my .Mac account (how convenient, huh?). My regular ISP, my website host, neither of them can figure out why I'm having so much trouble.
My .Mac account works flawlessly.
My ISP account can receive but not send, despite countless attempts to set it up EXACTLY like the Mail accounts on my other computers.
My godaddy account can't talk to Mail, either, despite me following exact directions.
It does not matter the directions I follow, the changes I make, or how many attempts I make, the end result is the same: hair-pulling, denials, hours on the phone with tech support. Eventually, alcoholism.
Why does this have to be brain surgery, every time?
Seriously...every time I've had to set up a Mail account, I've had innumerable hoops to jump through, just like doing anything on a Windows machine. You have to keep trying all sorts of things, over and over, just to get a modicum of progress.
It shouldn't be this hard, people. This is among the reasons why we pay the $$ we do for Apple product.

Answer 1

Well here's a few things to consider...
• There are a lot of people who let off steam here. Discussion forums tend to enable that, due in part to their very nature, their very design.
• If the notion of someone letting off steam is going to unnerve you guys that much, then you've got a lot of work ahead of you...this place is rife with it.
• If discussion forums aren't any place to let off a little steam, then, where? Certainly no where else at Apple.
• Yes, I'm letting off steam. I'm also asking for some help. If you guys need it spelled out for you, then maybe a "steam-letter-offer" is not where you need to be focusing your energies.
• Take a look at my post count. There was a time when I had a much higher number--and most of it was being helpful to others--but that was mysteriously dumped in favor of a lower post count from a second computer, hence, the "1" after my name. Regardless, I soldiered on.
• You'll notice that I rarely visit here. That's because my computers work like they're supposed to, for the most part, and often some of the questions I have are from forgetfulness, because the computers work so well, so I don't often have to deal with an issue.
Given that because I'm here, at this moment, letting off a little steam about this, means that this has been a recurring problem for too long, and that Apple has been next to no help about it. In other words, it takes a lot for me to get steamed about an Apple product.
Guess what? We're there.
I'm not the only one. I won't be the last. Don't pretend it to be otherwise.
Setting up mail is consistently a hassle. Yes, I'm complaining. Others do it, too.
There has to be an answer, somewhere, for this. Nitpicking people, over semantics, who are upset really doesn't help the situation.
So, let's get over the semantics and uppityness, okay? If you really need to do that, there's a long list of people who are much more frequent complainers than I. Looks to me, Mr. Brody, like you were OK with my post until Mr. Kinsella piped up. What does that say?
Back to the issue...
Mr. Brody, I don't know any other port numbers than what my ISP and goddady have provided me. I would assume one cannot just start typing any old set of numbers in the field. Is there a generic list of port numbers, somewhere, that people can draw on, or are they provider-specific?
I am on dial-up. There are no firewalls in place, other than any that might be installed at the provider's end. Once in a great while, I use a wireless broadband connection, with my neighbor's open blessing; being that it's been so politely provided, I don't really take advantage of it very often, save for large files up/downloads. I know I have setup at least one other account on that access, and two on my old employer's wireless access, so I'm at a loss to understand how this attempt is any different than any other...outside of the fact that this is the first time I'm trying to do it on this MBP. In fact, I set up the first account on the MBP--my .mac one--on dial-up in another part of the state.
In summary, regardless of where I go--wireless here, wireless at old job, dial-up here or dial-up in another part of the state--I cannot set up another mail account (outside of the .Mac one) on this MBP. I've had problems setting up mail before, but never with this many hoops. I've tried every tactic I've tried before, but this time, the software seems to be more stubborn than before.