I purchased my new iPad (3) in May. This is my first iPad, but I have a house full of iPods with all full of music, so I don't want music on this device.
I have yet to plug the new iPad into the USB on our home PC.
Questions: Will the IOS on the iPad update without connecting to iTunes?
Is it fairly simple to connect to the the PC and NOT screw up my perfect setup on this iPad?
What are the benefits of syncing to iTunes if I don't want any music on my iPad? (I have iCloud)

I hate iTunes on the PC. Almost always a headache.
Thank You

I'm sure you have iOS 5, so just go to settings > General > Software update on the iPad.

If you are not going to put iTunes music on the iPad, then there are few benefits to syncing it with iTunes.

* You can sync folders of photos (create albums) on the iPad. These are view only albums that can also only be removed using iTunes.
* Sync your other iTunes content (Books, Apps, etc.) back to iTunes so that you have copies in case you need to restore them locally. An edge case, since most of the time you can just download the app again anyway.
* You can create local backups as a backup to your iCloud backups. If you have to restore from a backup, local is faster.
* You can sync podcasts that you subscribe to in iTunes on the computer.

There are probably a few more. But there is nothing that you must have, or that can't be replaced with a third party app that will do as well, or better. One of the main goals of iOS 5 was to cut the cord with iTunes for those that wished to do so.