Building a Hackintosh? There's a netbook compatibility chart for that
geek.com
geek.com
That said, after I got back, I bought a 17" MBP and never used the Eee again. The keys on these 9/10" machines make them a nightmare to type on for more than a few minutes (and the Eee's was particularly good) and not being entirely legit just makes them feel a little icky and undependable. I don't know anyone who hackintoshed a machine and stuck with it for more than a few months (not to say there aren't any - I just don't know them!)
This reminds me of all the "build your own PIX firewall" hacks that were going around about 10 years ago. I seem to remember that the general outcome of those was that people were doing it to try out the concept cheaply, and then when satisfied purchased the actual product (or, realized it wasn't the right product for them).
I use it extensively at home and when out and about, for general internet use and for software development - I wrote a VoIP Twitter mash-up on it. I've got a perfectly good Ruby development environment, and I've even got Asterisk installed on it.
It did require some abuse to get going, and it's still on 10.5. It has... personality. But I do use it every single day, far more than my 24" iMac.
or Xen?
Also -- HTML5 and Javascript-level frameworks such as phonegap.com seems to gather some following. You might want to look into that.
I've written a few apps and even published a few but, in retrospect, none were so complex that I really needed to use Objective-C. As long as you have access to all the features (ie. camera, accelerometer, etc) Javascript might be the way to go. The only situation I think you really need Objective-C is for the Open GL ES part but rumor has it that the canvas on Mobile Safari uses that.
In conclusion, I think using a Hackintosh to develop for the iPhone/iPad might be just a way to find yourself a challenge, unless you plan on using your existing PC-hardware. Buying new PC-hardware instead of a mac isn't logic. But the side conclusion is that using the SDK itself might be unneeded for most of the common apps.
I'd suggest either getting a Mini off of eBay or the Apple Store's refurbished section (when they're there, usually aren't any), or building a desktop Hackintosh.
The iPad might be a good replacement for an OSX-capable netbook, even if it's just running iPhoneOS.
Hackintoshing a netbook is really just for fun and novelty.
I do this on an OLPC and a "normal" MSI Wind netbook.
It's not bad, if you have a large crisp font.
And agreed, if you want a Mac, just buy one. Refurb or second hand, if there's too much of a sticker shock.
Practical, not-as-fanboyish answer: I'm guessing that your aesthetic taste varies from mine (since I like how Mac's tend to look.) In that case, I'd say "don't buy a Mac." Apple chooses to bundle hardware and software. Thats their decision and pretty much their bottom line; use it. Or don't.