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fathergll

macrumors 68000
Sep 3, 2014
1,788
1,487
If a gynecologist orders a $8,000 dentist drill that probably isn't gong to fly as a business expense. The XDR is a high priced , narrow tool for a narrow market. "I needed a monitor for my headless computer" isn't going to pass any seriously real IRS audit.

The larger the sum heaped on a "tax shelter" business the more likely it will get audited and fail the audit. There are lots of things folks do that won't survive real scrutiny but the IRS doesn't chase down everything.


Well he's writing off a $12,000 computer and $80,000 Tesla for business expenses. Monitor doesn't sound that crazy at that point.
 
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natallica

macrumors 6502
Mar 7, 2005
345
139
Fairfax, VA
Dell UP2715K, which had the same IPS panel as the first Retina 5K iMac.

(Dell actually beat Apple to market by a few months in late 2014, but somehow Apple got the credit for introducing 5K to the desktop. Good spin doctors.)

I was originally using this monitor on a trashcan Mac Pro, then 2 years ago I moved to an iMac Pro and the screen became a PC monitor. So now it's come full circle.

It needs 2x DisplayPort inputs, so to connect the Mac Pro 7,1 I use a Sonnet Thunderbolt 3 to Dual DisplayPort Adapter.

Looks like these are discontinued? Anyone know if there's another Dell 5K 27" available as I can't find anything on the small business site?
 

bxs

macrumors 65816
Oct 20, 2007
1,150
528
Seattle, WA
Ok I can barely afford a 12 Core Mac Pro, 1TB, no afterburner Card etc. roughly $12k maybe I’ll add RAM later and waiting on the W5700XT 16GB Graphics option. It’s a school/learning opportunity and tax write off (My CPA says done deal)

But Theres no way to tax write off a $10,000 Display just no way around it my CPA says.

So I’m asking everyone here, What Display or Displays will you guys and girls be Using ?

I‘ll be using a LG C9 4K 55” OLED and also a Asus 27” PG27AQ 4K 144hz monitor

Just mainly because I plan to trade or sell the W5700XT for a RTX 3080 when they come out.
Initially, I will be using my LG 65" OLED TV - just have to find a 20-foot HDMI cable of decent quality -maybe I look on MonoPrice to find one.
 

OkiRun

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2019
1,005
585
Japan
Heck even video editors can’t justify it.

I'm taking it you aren't a professional television for film editor...
Both the Mac Pro and the XDR are perfectly fine together as a business deduction.
I have no idea about a college student for college expenses. However, I personally think you could argue the point clearly as the XDR was specifically made to work in tandem with the Mac Pro and purchasing a Mac Pro as a standalone machine makes it useless.
Taking the counter argument though...;) if your IRS auditor is insane... don't mess with the fed!
Happy Holidays!
 
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OkiRun

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2019
1,005
585
Japan
That's a bit of hyperbole. For some, a headless (AKA rackmount) Mac Pro is a good investment.
My comment was clearly in the context of the argument that the USA IRS would quibble about the XDR as a business deduction when the payer purchased a companion Mac Pro 7.1 which is soley a tower. The argument that the IRS would disallow the XDR is absurd in the extreme; even more so (if that is possible) when the company is a production studio.

Cheers and Merry Christmas!

* This post is not meant to convey any tax advice to anyone ;)
 
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chfilm

macrumors 68040
Nov 15, 2012
3,307
1,988
Berlin
Looks like these are discontinued? Anyone know if there's another Dell 5K 27" available as I can't find anything on the small business site?
Yea sadly they were discontinued but they’re actually a great deal now if you can snap one somewhere. I bought mine for 1k each 2 years ago and now saw them for less than 500€ on Amazon.
 

Korican100

macrumors 65816
Oct 9, 2012
1,202
613
Dell U3818DW 38" ultra-wide. No desire for the XDR, to be honest. I don't want a monitor that emits that much heat or requires active cooling.
high five brotha! same here. you just can't beat dell's ultrasharps with their color accuracy in this price range.
 
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ZombiePhysicist

macrumors 68030
May 22, 2014
2,785
2,685
I'm using a good old Apple 30'' Cinema HD Display. I've never had a reason to replace it.

Me too. I’m waiting for 8k tvs. Right now you can use an 8k Samsung for about 3500. These will only get cheaper. I want an 8k oled when they come out and don’t cost $30k...
 

cardfan

macrumors 601
Mar 23, 2012
4,231
5,350
That’s basically what my CPA said, she doesn’t want to raise any red flags she use to be a IRS auditor for 10 years. We can easily explain away a Mac Pro for online school courses related to Mac work and has variety of uses. But the display is like unless you are doing specific Photo Editing for a print or publishing business.

Heck even video editors can’t justify it. I’d like to see a Side by side with the Top 2 Monitors next to an Apple XDR Display the BenQ32 has HDR and 10-bit Color Id like to see if people could be fooled as to which was which by adding a shroud of fabric around the monitors.

Sounds like you’ve already hoisted a flag. Good luck.
 

OkiRun

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2019
1,005
585
Japan
Sounds like you’ve already hoisted a flag. Good luck.
He's hoisted a Jolly Roger unless his course has a syllabus that clearly states he needs a personal computer as a requisite for completion of the course. This can't be implied. If your computer is a necessary requirement for enrollment or attendance at an educational institution, the IRS deems it a qualifying expense. IF his taxes get 'flagged' electronically as being outside his last year parameters, they will mostly likely just send him a letter asking for the course requirements from the school in writing. If it has a computer as a prerequisite, no problems what so ever. The IRS won't blink an eye about which computer he purchased.
 
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goMac

Contributor
Apr 15, 2004
7,662
1,694
Heck even video editors can’t justify it. I’d like to see a Side by side with the Top 2 Monitors next to an Apple XDR Display the BenQ32 has HDR and 10-bit Color Id like to see if people could be fooled as to which was which by adding a shroud of fabric around the monitors.

I’ve seen an XDR and it looks very clearly better than other monitors. Due to both the higher resolution and the high number of local dimming zones. Blacks are extremely good on that display. OLED like.

Still overkill for most people but no way the BenQ looks comparable. The local dimming makes just too much of a difference.

The Ultrafine 5k is a good backup, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to the XDR. Still, not a big problem considering the price difference. But if you can’t see the difference against a monitor that doesn’t have dimming zones than you’re probably blind...
 

wa5655

macrumors member
Jun 12, 2010
57
3
Using a CG319x now. If Apple being Apple and not allowing hardware calibration. If will be an issue for folks work with still photo/print.
 

reden

macrumors 6502a
Aug 30, 2006
717
825
I've owned two Dell UltraSharp 32 Ultra HD 4K (UP3216Q) displays for 3 years, and using these while I wait for my XDRs, but I was so insanely surprised how well they work with the Mac Pro. I already had a TB3 to 2 Display Port at 4K 60Mhz adapter that's super rare, once I plugged them in, they work so well. Better than any Mac I've ever plugged them into, even the older Mac Pro which is what I originally bought them for had issues all the time on startup, switching the main monitor sporadically, annoying issues.

Going to miss these displays, but if XDRs are not within your budget, these are matted, and work amazingly well and they're still sold by Dell and other sources. They're great panels. They're pricey, but great, not as pricey as XDR though. Oh, the stands are really nice as well, very solid aluminum stands, not the usually cheap plastic stands.
 
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Bakafish

macrumors member
Aug 3, 2002
65
35
Tokyo, Japan
Dell U3219Q 31.5" 4K HDR400 USB3.1 display. It isn't full Thunderbolt 3, but does support 4K 60Hz using DP over the USB3 cable. It does a kind of built in KVM where I'm able to use it with my dedicated work PC, swapping the inputs doesn't 'disconnect' the other display input from the host and reroutes the USB devices to the active input device. A little clunky, but it works. Image quality is certainly good enough for me, but it suffers from some backlight bleeding in certain stress tests, I don't notice any issues in actual use. There is a pretty good review on YouTube that shows the bleed if you search that model number.

For those of you going with non-Apple monitors I would make a shout out for DDCTL which is a free utility that allows you to change brightness, volume and inputs on third party displays. And Karabiner (also free) that allows you to reassign your keys to assist setting up Automater scripts to those functions, giving a more Mac like integration with these 3rd party displays.
 

Romanesco

macrumors regular
Jul 8, 2015
126
65
New York City
Before getting the XDR, I went thru Samsung monitors, Dell monitors, then LG UltraFines (2017 4K & 5K, 2019 4K & 5K). In my opinion, from the standpoint of a graphic designer, the LG UltraFine monitors are the best of them all. There is something about that Apple specification in those displays that hits the sweet spot. I’d get these over anything else but the XDR.
 

thisisnotmyname

macrumors 68020
Oct 22, 2014
2,438
5,251
known but velocity indeterminate
Before getting the XDR, I went thru Samsung monitors, Dell monitors, then LG UltraFines (2017 4K & 5K, 2019 4K & 5K). In my opinion, from the standpoint of a graphic designer, the LG UltraFine monitors are the best of them all. There is something about that Apple specification in those displays that hits the sweet spot. I’d get these over anything else but the XDR.

Yep, using some until the XDRs finally ship.
 
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vaugha

macrumors 6502a
Nov 3, 2011
611
206
Dell U3818DW 38" ultra-wide. No desire for the XDR, to be honest. I don't want a monitor that emits that much heat or requires active cooling.

I'm using this monitor too. Terrific monitor. 38" of viewable screen is just another level. I still want the xdr though. I'm a little concerned that the prices will tank in a couple of years when we're already on the verge of miniled displays on laptops and soon the desktop monitors.
 

bwinter88

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2012
152
1,913
That’s basically what my CPA said, she doesn’t want to raise any red flags she use to be a IRS auditor for 10 years. We can easily explain away a Mac Pro for online school courses related to Mac work and has variety of uses. But the display is like unless you are doing specific Photo Editing for a print or publishing business.

Heck even video editors can’t justify it. I’d like to see a Side by side with the Top 2 Monitors next to an Apple XDR Display the BenQ32 has HDR and 10-bit Color Id like to see if people could be fooled as to which was which by adding a shroud of fabric around the monitors.
As a video editor, I'm curious why video editors can't justify it? Or were you exaggerating the point...do IRS auditors actually say "you didn't need this expensive thing, you could have done with less?"

I feel like I could tell the difference between a 4K and 6K monitor. Besides, you're also paying for reliability and customer service, when downtime is an important thing for a professional.
 
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ZombiePhysicist

macrumors 68030
May 22, 2014
2,785
2,685
As a video editor, I'm curious why video editors can't justify it? Or were you exaggerating the point...do IRS auditors actually say "you didn't need this expensive thing, you could have done with less?"

I feel like I could tell the difference between a 4K and 6K monitor. Besides, you're also paying for reliability and customer service, when downtime is an important thing for a professional.

Yea, totally disagree. If you need it for your job, and particularly if you have a business, you can write it off. IRS just wants to see the receipts that it's legit. That you want to buy a craftsman tool instead of a cheap knockoff is your business.
 

OkiRun

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2019
1,005
585
Japan
As a video editor, I'm curious why video editors can't justify it? Or were you exaggerating the point...do IRS auditors actually say "you didn't need this expensive thing, you could have done with less?"

I feel like I could tell the difference between a 4K and 6K monitor. Besides, you're also paying for reliability and customer service, when downtime is an important thing for a professional.
The IRS doesn't care about the cost of your equipment. Only that your equipment can be shown to be related to your business operation. The fact that your company is listed as a production house is enough. No IRS auditor would ever say, "you should have gotten a Dell'. The IRS does care if you haven't shown a project in 10 years. Then they think you just have a hobby. Always be sure to sell some crap to your friends during the year.
 

JoeMaj

macrumors member
Dec 7, 2015
37
21
PA
"To be honest", I wouldn't have purchased the Mac Pro if I couldn't also afford a Pro Display XDR. I got the Mac Pro on Dec 17 and the XDR is coming Tuesday. Meanwhile, I'm using my 27" 5K LG.
 
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