Propriatary pc's

well, what exactly do you want to upgrade? you can change cards like video etc in any brand PC that has available slots...The biggest problem with some computers like compaq and HP is upgrading the hard drive. These computers have a hidden utility partition on the hard drives that needs to get recreated or moved over to new hard drive... it can be done, just different procedure that most...compaqs are funny about how you configure Setup in them also...but all is revealed on their website. tradeoff is, they are 'proprietary' but nicely supported via web, a strong point in their favor...
Dell and Gateway are 'proprietary' also but not as bad as HP and Compaq...
Acer is pretty main stream and easy to upgrade...
If this question is coming from what's cost effective? then my answer to that is: don't plan on upgrading at all. if you have to 'crack the box' it's going to cost. time is money. buy any PC with enough power, RAM hard-drive space, etc so that you don't expect to have to touch it for 3 years....
don't build it yourself, either. just my opinion...
is this home or network?

It's easy to upgrade any computer depending on what you want to upgrade. Add a hdd, no problem. Adding devices should not be any problem.

Removing old devices and having new ones work, make take a little more effort, but is generally doable.
All manufacturers have a specific set of software they place on the computer, and all of the four bands you mention have propriatary software and hardware. But you have the right to add to it and remove from it.

If you are talking about desktops, you'll be fine in upgrading. Laptops take a lot more work and you are better off with the propriatary hardware/software.

My first computer was a HP pavilian, it was a good computer that nerver gave me any trouble. Now HP and Compaq are the same company more or less. Only bad part about these companies is their reliance on 1 single recovery cd. I worked for Gateway in an outsource center. Let me tell you it's all about the hose and close, if you open the case for anything warrantee coverage goes out the door and they wont help you at all. The only thing I can say possitive about their computers is at least they have great support cds that are specific to what your needing, utilities on one cd, drivers on another, etc... Their hardware parts are horrible you have no idea the issues that I delt with on a daily basis. Dells are pretty much the best, but they take forever to complete your pc. Either build your own or custom order from Dell and use external hardware rather than cracking case open that voids warrantee.

For the most part, ALL name brand computers use customized hardware.

Some are more custom than others.

If you replace the motherboard in most of these systems, you loose the ability to use the restore disks that came with the system.

As faras other hardware, the biggest issue is that the power supplies often do not have any extra capacity.
Adding another drive can cause an overload condition for the power supply.

A few, use semi-proprietary RAM modules.
I have worked on many a name brand system that was very finicky as to what type of DIMM modules would work in them.

You will also come across some systems that use non-standard cables and drive mounting brackets.

Take a good look at the target system before spending anymoney on the upgrade hardware.

Chas

Thanks for all the responses. I was just curious.

Most peripherals are easily swapped out- PCI cards, drives, etc. Memory is pretty standard on desktops these days, so that isn't really an issue. CPUs can also be swapped, but chipset issues may raise their head before manufacturer issues. Motherboards can get tricky. Dell uses a proprietary pinout for the power cable from the power supply- the connector is identical to a normal P1 connector, but the voltages coming down the wires are different. This means that if you want to swap out a Dell mobo, make sure you replace the power supply too. Or if you have to replace the power supply, get a Dell replacement version (www.pcpowercooling.com sells them) or replace the motherboard at the same time.

But motherboard-level upgrades are not often done on "manufactured" PCs- by the time such an upgrade is required, you may be better off with a new computer altogether.

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