TPM - The dreaded brick-maker.

I need to find out as much as I can about how TPM is implemented in the m420.  I ran down this road with IBM, and they had nobody who knew anything about it apart from "it is implemented by the motherboard manufacturer."  I found that a lame cop-out.  Does DELL offer anything better?  I would like to be able to bind my OS to the TPM, and use it to hold keys.  What documentation does DELL have on the subject?