The great thing about tablets and smartphones is how quick they are to use. You can switch one on from standby in under a second and be online in moments. But it's worth slowing this process down long enough to enter a secure password, first.

There's a lot of valuable data on a tablet or smartphone. The details of your contacts, your work documents, private photos and apps that carry your financial information may all reside on the device.

Locking this all up with a password is a smart move. We show you how in the video below.

Video: Set up a password on an Android tablet

Remember, Android devices come from many different brands, each of which apply their own custom interfaces. In most cases, the directions above should be virtually the same to what you'll find on your own Android tablet or smartphone.