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I agree. The old 23andme was much better. I miss the countries of ancestry and PCA features, and I don't feel like it was a good choice for them to replace them with things such as a "hair color predictor".
Ohhh....I just ordered from them. It was $99 for autosomal dna + mtDNA (I'm female). Family Tree was $79 for just autosomal. I wonder if I shoul've gone with Ancestry.com now....from what I can tell, they offer only autosomal for $99.
Ohhh....I just ordered from them. It was $99 for autosomal dna + mtDNA (I'm female). Family Tree was $79 for just autosomal. I wonder if I shoul've gone with Ancestry.com now....from what I can tell, they offer only autosomal for $99.
That's a little misleading... the mtDNA you'll get is just a basic haplogroup. You won't get any mtdna matches and you may be able to refine your haplogroup more specifically with a proper mtDNA test, which 23andMe don't offer (you'd have to go to FamilyTreeDNA.com for that). And frankly, the haplogroup isn't very relevant to recent genealogy anyway, so I wouldn't say Ancestry.com's test is missing anything.
I don't see anywhere on 23andMe where you can order just autosomal for $79, without the mtDNA, they only have an ancestry test for $99, and Ancestry+Health for $199.
23andMe has the best ethnicity reports, but most people there don't have any family trees, which means the matches are almost useless.
That's a little misleading... the mtDNA you'll get is just a basic haplogroup. You won't get any mtdna matches and you may be able to refine your haplogroup more specifically with a proper mtDNA test, which 23andMe don't offer (you'd have to go to FamilyTreeDNA.com for that). And frankly, the haplogroup isn't very relevant to recent genealogy anyway, so I wouldn't say Ancestry.com's test is missing anything.
I don't see anywhere on 23andMe where you can order just autosomal for $79, without the mtDNA, they only have an ancestry test for $99, and Ancestry+Health for $199.
23andMe has the best ethnicity reports, but most people there don't have any family trees, which means the matches are almost useless.
Family Tree DNA offers the $79 autosomal only test, not 23andme. I went with 23andme because of the aforementioned mtDNA and because I heard its ethnicity classifications (?) are most accurate.
I didnt really know what mtDNA would entail anyway. It just looked like it included more. Too late now...
I have family members who have done a lot of research already, with one great aunt tracing a part of the family to the 1700s. I guess we are relatively recent US immigrants compared to some people. I just need a copy of this report (she actually handed out hard copy reports to some people).
I think I should be able to interpret the results ok since I do know what countries both sides of my family immigrated from.
I will be ordering a test for my grandma too, and now I wonder if it is best if we use the same company or if another one would be better for her (?).
Family Tree DNA offers the $79 autosomal only test, not 23andme. I went with 23andme because of the aforementioned mtDNA and because I heard its ethnicity classifications (?) are most accurate.
I didnt really know what mtDNA would entail anyway. It just looked like it included more. Too late now...
I have family members who have done a lot of research already, with one great aunt tracing a part of the family to the 1700s. I guess we are relatively recent US immigrants compared to some people. I just need a copy of this report (she actually handed out hard copy reports to some people).
I think I should be able to interpret the results ok since I do know what countries both sides of my family immigrated from.
I will be ordering a test for my grandma too, and now I wonder if it is best if we use the same company or if another one would be better for her (?).
I would probably stick with 23andMe since you're already testing with them. You'll be able to see which matches you and your grandmother share if you're both with the same company. If your main interest is the ethnicity reports, then 23andMe is best, but keep in mind that even at 23andMe, the ethnicity reports are only an estimate. It's a very imprecise science because there is no DNA which is totally unique to one small region/country of the world. For this reason, some DNA can not be narrowed down beyond a broader region than most people are happy with. 23andMe has categories like "Broadly Northwestern European" which isn't very specific. A lot of people are disappointed when they realize this.
If you want to find ancestors who share similar DNA and you have an Ancestry membership, that's the way to go. They run your DNA results through their database of other members and provide you with the information showing the shared ancestor, I don't think you are going to get that anywhere else. I know where my family came from but I did not know that my deceased maternal grandmother had a brother who she never once mentioned to me, Ancestry found that for me.
If you want to find ancestors who share similar DNA and you have an Ancestry membership, that's the way to go. They run your DNA results through their database of other members and provide you with the information showing the shared ancestor, I don't think you are going to get that anywhere else. I know where my family came from but I did not know that my deceased maternal grandmother had a brother who she never once mentioned to me, Ancestry found that for me.
My understanding is that Ancestry provides the names of matches only. Is that still correct?
My understanding is that Ancestry provides the names of matches only. Is that still correct?
Ancestry provides a list of your DNA matches and, if you and those matches have a tree attached to your tests, they will look for shared ancestors within your trees. It will also form "DNA Circles" when you and several of your matches all have the same ancestor in your tree, and they offer "New Ancestor Discoveries", which are basically DNA Circles for people not already in your tree. So basically, if a lot of your matches all have John Smith in their tree, but you don't have John Smith in your tree, the system will suggest John Smith as a possible ancestor for you. He may not be your ancestor, it could just be coincidence, or he could be related to you by marriage instead, but knowing that many of your matches have that name in their tree is worth investigating and can help you find ancestors you didn't know about.
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