Best DNA test on the market?

[RobinC]

Who has completed a DNA test that is available and what did you think of the results it gave you in relation to your research?

[Hector]

My wife and I took individual tests on Ancestry and I was quite disappointed with both. They gave possible origins and list of people on Ancestry that were fifth cousins but having contacted them all there was no relationship that was close enough to be interesting. There was maybe a town, county or surname that we had in common but nothing more.
It enclosed lots of mainly American versions of history, no Henry Ford did not invent the automobile!
I told Ancestry I was disappointed but I didn't get a reply. At £100 each it wasn't worth it.

[Break2015]

My wife and I took individual tests on Ancestry and I was quite disappointed with both. They gave possible origins and list of people on Ancestry that were fifth cousins but having contacted them all there was no relationship that was close enough to be interesting. There was maybe a town, county or surname that we had in common but nothing more.
It enclosed lots of mainly American versions of history, no Henry Ford did not invent the automobile!
I told Ancestry I was disappointed but I didn't get a reply. At £100 each it wasn't worth it.

Great thing to know. Can barely find any information on a great so forth grandfather by census / records. The site 23&me we were using has limited & vague relation [really nothing to the side we want to know, the female side different story] and was thinking of using Ancestry due to the site's self-promoting gimmicks of having "huge" resources.

23&me was pretty accurate with respect to the female based results we got - however, beyond 3rd / 4th cousin the relationship was so vague it wasn't worth the money. Unfortunately, as per that website, I have a total of 5 2nd cousins and 8 3rd cousins so not a lot to work with.

I think it depends, each site has a different process & different population, however, it also depends on if your family is "wide spread" & reproduced a lot. I know someone on 23&me whose apparently dirt poor great-great-grandparents had enough children & grandchildren to populate a tiny town by themselves.

[SandraL]

You can download your DNA data from Ancestry and upload it to Gedmatch. It's a free site. You might get more luck with that site.

[emmteeyess]

Who has completed a DNA test that is available and what did you think of the results it gave you in relation to your research?

First off, I have to say I've not taken a DNA test and from a totaly personal point of view I'd never bother with DNA tests/analysis. They strike me as a bit of an Ancestry money maker, and I'm not convinced their data base of people's DNA is comprehensive enough.

I've no desire to find a 3rd cousin I know nothing about from Little Town USA, and then try to track back to his ag.lab g.grandparents in Lower Bottomly. I mean, Why bother?

I don't even want to know if I'm 1/4 Viking or 7/8ths Neanderthal!

I'd much prefer to track ancestors thru their paper trail and known families, with all the stories that that produces. And there's more than enough of them to keep me busy to be sure that I've got the right people and their full life stories, and not just lift surnames from other people's trees unchecked.

Anyway - Rant over - this is just my own humble opinion - you must spend your money as you see fit!!

Cheers, MTS

[SandraL]

I've been able to make about 121 positive matches on my list. The furthest back I have on my list was from 1661 from an 8th cousin.

[stepives]

My wife and I took individual tests on Ancestry and I was quite disappointed with both. They gave possible origins and list of people on Ancestry that were fifth cousins but having contacted them all there was no relationship that was close enough to be interesting. There was maybe a town, county or surname that we had in common but nothing more.
It enclosed lots of mainly American versions of history, no Henry Ford did not invent the automobile!
I told Ancestry I was disappointed but I didn't get a reply. At £100 each it wasn't worth it.

£200 buys a lot of certs.

My thoughts on DNA.......

Steve.

[SandraL]

Sadly many don't reply.

[warwickhewett]

I bought 23andme for my mother and it was more interesting in regards to you medical genetics than especially ancestry.

However, can you download this data and upload it to ancestry? That would be interesting.

[SandraL]

One can only use Ancestry's DNA on Ancestry. You can download it and upload it to other sites. I have mine on Gedmatch as well as Family Tree DNA. If one wants to see all the matches on Family Tree DNA. It's a one time fee of $39 US. If one is a free member on the site they will only show the first 20 matches. I also have mine on My Heritage but was very disappointed with that site. I am a member of that site but I am not going to renew it.

One can also build a tree on Family Tree DNA but it has it's pros and cons. I can't seem to get pictures uploaded. And if one links to a person that is either a Jr. or Sr. it will switch the people around. I tried changing it back to the proper way but it kept changing back to the wrong way. When I tried to remove that person to do them over, it removes the whole line and must be added again.