Absolutely!
In fact, I started with Gmail because of the iPad because my provider, Time Warner's Road Runner, wouldn't let me send e-mails if I wasn't on their network. Kind of hard to use the home network when you're not at home, yeah? So, I signed up for a [free!] Gmail account and have made it my default-send-from-the-iPad one. Very handy.
So, yeah, sign up for Gmail, either on a PC or a Mac (easier than trying to set up via the iPad). Once you've got an e-mail account opened, then it's a simple matter of setting up the Gmail account on the iPad (there's even an Apple default area for Gmail set-up under Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendars). Just follow the steps (well, it's what I did ... so I assume it'll work that way for you)...
Once you've got Gmail going on the iPad, then you can do the process I described in my prior post.
Hope that helps and do let us know how you got along.
Marilyn