Bob, I am glad that the information I was able to provide was of help! Linda in Costa Rica Monroe County, New York Genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monroenys Monroe County, New York History http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monroenys -----Original Message----- From: Bob Sangster Sent: Saturday, 15 October, 2011 2:28 PM To: ftm-tech@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [FTM-TECH] What product is best? Linda, A big thank you. Your answer just about sums up what I was asking advise about. The points about RAM and which version of Windows to use was handy, and I had never thought about the keyboard aspect. I find using a 'screen keyboard' un-comfortable to use, and forgot all about that aspect. In short: A 10/12 inch netbook with 2gb ram, and Windows Home Premium looks a good possibility. As too which make, well that 'could' depend on good old Father Christmas, and yes, I still believe even though retired, me that is. 8>)) It costs nothing to ask, but can save more than cash when answered, so, again, a big thank you. Enjoy Life. Never promise, but will always try. Regards, Bob Sangster -----Original Message----- From: Linda H Gutierrez <lilacarlhg@amnet.co.cr> To: ftm-tech@rootsweb.com Sent: Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:05 Subject: Re: [FTM-TECH] What product is best? Bob, My recommendation, based on what you do and do not want would be a netbook or mini laptop, 10-12 inches in size, they are small and easy to store, have the Windows OS and will run FTM - including the latest version - on them. I have a 10 inch mini that came with Windows 7 Basic and 1 GB of RAM. It is quite sufficient for going online, the screen size certainly smaller but easy enough to work with and for simple tasks. I ended up upgrading it to Windows Home Premium because I did not like the limitations of the Basic version, although it functions well enough. But I did not upgrade the RAM (as of yet) and I am paying for that! If you plan to run FTM 2012 on it you would be happier with 2 GB of RAM. It works fine, but is SLOW!! I have installed all of my important programs such as MS Office, FTM, DTP software and a few others. Of course the more you install, the slower the performance, boot up time, etc. As I have it set now, the battery lasts a good 4 hours. If I were to remove some things, including the upgrade to Home Premium and lower the power settings it would last up to at least 6 hours. The one I have is put out by HP but of course there are several other brands to choose from. The nice thing about HP (not sure about the other brands) is that it comes with HP's own software that will boot at start-up (you can change it if you want to) and comes up ready to use in less than 30 seconds. You can surf the web and check mail easily with their application or boot to Windows and have more options available. I find the size is great for traveling, especially on an airplane as I can easily set it on the tray to watch a video or view my files or whatever I wish to do. And of course they come with a keyboard as opposed to the virtual type on the tablets now being marketed. I hope that this is of some help in making your decision. Linda in Costa Rica Monroe County, New York Genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monroenys Monroe County, New York History http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monroenys

Well everyone, thank you. Linda's reply about using a Netbook with the proviso of 2gb ram, and Windows 7 Home Premium seems to be the front runner. FTM installed on this would seem to be the best answer for me. I would add that I plan to use this on my visits to various Study Centres with my camera and tripod, having access to the Internet at the Study Centres was not important, and wether I place the media on this Netbook or not does not really matter. It was the convenience of portability and use with FTM that was important. One quick email to the list, and I have everyone's ideas and experience for free. Good not ask for better. Enjoy Life. Never promise, but will always try. Regards, Bob Sangster