LG :: Default Email On EnV Touch

I have never used my Touch for anything but talking and texting--never get on the web (grandfathered in on no data plan) so I know NOTHING about email, browsing, etc. What I want to do is keep my current handset if at all possible and NOT go to a smart phone, at least not yet. I will pay the $30 data plan (I know it's silly, etc., but still...). The most important thing I want to do is use my regular email client on the Touch but I'd like to have it as simple as possible and want to be alerted to new emails without having to actually go "online" to check for new email. Is there any way I can change the default email (or whatever you would call the "email" which is a choice under "messaging" on the interior screen) to be my real email address so that I can simplify things?

Am I correct in assuming that if I have to retrieve my email from the internet (on the Touch) I will NOT get any kind of alert to new emails with my phone simply "idle"?I hope this made sense. Rather than going through the hassle and expense of getting a data plan only to find out it won't work for me and then having to stick with a $10 data plan I don't need (am currently grandfathered in with pay as you go data because I had the Touch prior to the required data plans) I am trying to get as much information as possible beforehand.