I see that Tesco are leaping on the tablet bandwagon and promising Samsung's new Galaxy Tab for £529 from November 1. As I said yesterday, I think Android tablets are going to be excellent candidates for book revision devices. Unlike the iPad they are very easy when it comes to transferring files -- you just plug them in to a PC or Mac and they turn into external drives.

<a href="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/tesco-tab.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6060" title="Tesco Tab" src="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/tesco-tab.jpg" alt="" width="490" height="317" /></a>

The software is more varied in quality, but Documents to Go on Android does let you read and make comments, unlike the iPad version (so my HTC Desire phone can revise manuscripts more effectively than an iPad believe it or not).

<!--more-->I still wouldn't buy this thing right now. Unless you're absolutely desperate wait until after Christmas. There will be a lot more competitors in the market then. Prices will fall. There will be some ten-inch screens around -- the Tab is only seven and for book revision I'm not convinced that's big enough really (though I haven't seen one so I could be wrong).

But the clincher for me is that the other tablet makers are waiting for a new release of Android called Gingerbread which is specifically designed for tablets, not phones. Most manufacturers are waiting for Gingerbread before releasing their products. If they're hanging on it makes sense to join them.

I will be working and revising a manuscript when I go to the Helsinki Book Fair next week. I'll be taking along the iPad for carrying around with me -- it's great for making notes and the like. But my little Windows tablet laptop will be in the room for the heavy lifting.