Welcome! I'm sure you'll get some pretty good answers, but I'll try to start off with a quick and easy one to try.
The built-in browser, although "beta," works pretty well. No need to hack. And you just need to access an email provider with a decent mobile/simple webmail. I use yahoo. You can sign in at
http://mlogin.yahoo.com/ , and then check your mail at
http://m.yahoo.com/w/ygo-mail