Actually, EVERYONE who has built a hackintosh says that it runs BETTER than on an actual mac. You can still do all the software updates and everything works just like a real mac. There's a lot of hacking involved, but everyone who has done it says that it works better than a real mac. That's understandable, as everyone who has done this chooses the really super fast types of processors and super fast memory, better than apple's 4 year old hardware (sorry, but core 2 duo is soooooo 4 years ago!!)
This is a lie and a pretty bad one. No one that is being taken seriously would say anything like that. They will agree that cost for cost, the hackintosh looks better. And if it works better than a Mac there wouldn't be any hacking involved. Hell, even the guys that do the heavy lifting in programming (ie netkas) eventually bought a real mac because it just works better.
If apple keeps on releasing crap OS's (sorry but I really don't like snow leopard, and I don't think lion will be better, sorry, but I don't want ios on my mac. Please steve jobs, keeps ios separate from osx. anyway, I digress) then I will probably build a hackintosh when I am older and have time for it.
So you've never attempted to build one and yet you claim some sort of expertise on these things. Tell you what, if Apple releases another crappy OS buy Windows or download Ubuntu instead.
I mean, yah, you do pay a premium when you buy a mac, and the price is mostly just because of the build quality, but is it really all that neccessary just to have "the world's thinnest notebook" or the world's "thinnest all in one"? I suppose if you consider a mac an art piece AND a computer at the same time. Actually, I am majoring in industrial design in college and I eventually would love to be on apple's design team, if I meet the right people and network accordingly.
You've got a lot of learning to do. As the owner of multiple Dell XPS' laptops sitting in the storage room, all broken from heavy usage. Yes, build quality is paramount once you get over >$1000. This is the market Apple targets and the only one they are interested in. Sling an 8lb. laptop bag over your shoulder for 8 hours and you'll see why "thinness", "weight" and "build quality" are important. If you're satisfied with a $500 Acer sitting on the desk all day, every day then buy that instead. I've got 4 year old Macbooks in heavy rotation, and 1 year old Dells collecting dust. Guess which ones are paying off?