All posts tagged: Tax Savings

Each year trends appear in the technology industry with new improvements happening almost daily but as you can salary package a portable device such as an iPad, tablet or laptop annually without any Fringe benefits Tax (FBT) you can afford to keep up to date. Some of the new features are fads and will fade as quickly as they arrived however some features will become standard across the board on laptops and other computer devices but how do you know what is a keeper and what you won’t need in your next purchase?

There is generally an annual tech show that occurs in January each year in Australia and they also show around the world. At these conventions, computer producers try to one-up each other with the latest and greatest. We’ll discuss a few of the new and improved features available on current laptop, computer, handheld devices, etc.

Having a convertible design seems to be the ‘top of the charts’ must have – giving you flexibility to have a laptop for your desk at work and converting to a convenient and small tablet while on your flight to Sydney. Many suppliers are now integrating convertible functionality into their designs but are not skimping on capability or power to do so.

New connections are big each year, with the introduction of UBS-C in 2016. The idea of new connection ports is to fasten up the transfer rate (data and power) and again improve performance. These may become the norm relatively soon, with Macbook, Dell, HP and Lenovo all including it in their 2016 releases so just watch out for this one.

OLED – have you heard of it yet? It’s all about screen resolution and it’s been in some of our mobile phones for a little while now (Samsung Galaxy series) but only now are we starting to see it in laptops and TVs. So what is it? OLED, or organic light-emitting diodes, works by putting electricity through certain materials that glow specific colours. You effectively get a clearer and sharper colour but also as individual pixels shut down if there’s no colour, you get a blacker black, providing a significantly better watching experience. The application of OLED is endless and allows for a thinner screen and can even be made flexible. This is definitely one to watch out.

Intel, the main guys that produce PC chips, has again upgraded their processors to a new generation. Officially called Intel 6th Generation Core series (Code-named Skylake), these new CPUs are not only quite a bit faster than the one in your three-year-old laptop, but also promise significantly longer battery life.

Like every other year, there’s been significant technology change so it might be time for an upgrade. With the benefit of a FBT free purchase, maybe you should give us a call to see if you can get yourself a new laptop for a nice price while saving on tax. If you’re considering an iPad or other hand held device, you could even look at bundling it with your mobile phone – why not save tax on all your everyday items. Give us a call and we can see what other things can be packaged for you.