Another reason not to buy a Dell.

[kf6rdn]

I don't remember that EVER being the case. Quite the opposite actually.
In fact, Dell got it's start by building tricked out/upgraded IBM Machines. They've never had anything even close to proprietary.

Apple on the other hand.....


In all seriousness though - The only computer mfg that's ever had proprietary hardware has been apple. There have been a few over the years (emachines, compaq) that built very budget-oriented machines in which components were hardwired so as not to allow upgrade. But your allegation is pretty much completely unfounded.
Even apple wasn't proprietary in the strictest sense. They just chose to use motorola chips instead of intel/amd/cyrix processors. As a result the entire system architechure was different, and thus hardware requirements were different. (but that's another story entirely - cause it's apple)

I think he means the layout of the components, and in that he's completly correct. They are not standard "ATX" form factor systems, while the basic stuff - memory, processor etc is of course standard stock, you can't for instance swap out an upgraded motherboard.

[ejhc11]

At work we have both Dells and HPs - about 4500 computers. We like Dell Latitude laptops for us Net Admins, HP (Compaq Proliant Servers) and a mix of Dell and HP workstations. All have their good and bads just need to learn how to work around them. We are a public school system with 19,000 kids and close to 2500 faculty/admin staff. My Dell Vostro 400 bought from 2007 works like a champ with Vista - its my media center/gamer pc for COD I/II and BF2 / BF2 Bad Company II. My monitor is a Sharp 42" 1080P LCD....

[SLYoteBoy]

Roll your own FTW.