thanks.  That gives me some perspective

Well, I'm not saying it's impossible to build a working Mac clone, but going by his experience and what I've seen on forums when considering doing it myself it looks like a bit of a lottery whether it's worth the potential trouble.

I ended up getting an Apple-refurbished iMac, still expensive for what they are but a bit of a saving over the prices for brand new ones.

I really wouldn't recommend the hackintosh thing unless you meet one of two rather specific situations:
 
1) You have some software you really must use, and simply cannot afford to get a Mac for it. I don't mean some software you prefer but have a Windows alternative, I mean you don't have a choice and there is just no financial way a Mac that can handle it can happen.
 
2) You want to play around and see how it work, knowing that it isn't going to work perfect, or maybe at all. You aren't relying on it, just playing.
 
Otherwise, don't do it. If you need a reliable OS-X system, buy one from Apple. Yes they are overpriced, but that it how it goes with Apple. You pay too much for what you get, but it is all from one company so it is generally easy to get support.
 
Or, of course, you can go the route I recommend and just use Windows. I really doubt you are in a situation where OS-X is necessary, you can almost always find what you need in Windows. So use a Windows system and be done with it. Cheaper, and more flexible.
 
OS-X doesn't have any magic sauce that makes it a special OS, it is a modern OS just like any other. It has some good points and bad points but ultimately it is nothing special. To the extent Apple offers anything special it is the hardware/software integration since they control both and thus can (at least in theory) make them work very well together. Of course that goes out the window with hackintosh.

My 2 cents and observation. 
My son did this in an attempt to make a Dell laptop work for his DJ audio set up. Could not get rid of a DPCL spike in Windows. So he partitioned the drive and first tried Lynux Ubuntu worse because no drivers for his Native Instrument set up. So he installed OSX which had drivers and of course the DPCL issue was still there because it was the bios. He did enjoy mucking about for about a year but being his age hated it because you have to pay!! for stuff, unlike Windows where everything is pirated. But it did work and I used it a few times and could see no difference at all, the laptop was the wrong colour( black) that's all. If you do this make sure everything is white or silver.. 
 
My other observation is with the schools. I used to work there in maintenance and school bus, my daughter and many friends are teachers and administrators. The IT guy who works for my wife's dental office also works for the School district. He was hired by the SD because he was a mac guy. 
10 years ago 80% of the school computers were Macs. There was some deal that Apple made that is history now. But over time the Mac's have all but disappeared and the local SD has gone 100% Lenovo and HP. A few teachers still have the Mac Books but have been told they are on there own for tech support now. The SD opted out of the Mac world due to networking and costs issues with maintaining them. 
My daughter hated her Mac and is happy to have a "real " laptop now. The Macs were always screwing up and spent more time on the workbench and when the OS goes out of date you cannot re use them. Now she can deal with little things herself and the techs are slowly being cut back in their hours. She said, when a Mac's screws up you cannot fix it your self and overall the Mac Books were not dependable at all. The Lenovo's seem bulletproof and work on the network much better.  
They still use iPads big time in schools with the Smart Blackboards and for the better teaching apps. 
My wife's IT guy recommends Macs if you have the cash for personal use and Lenovo's or HP for business, networking and servers. He still uses a Mac personally, but works with 90% PC now. My wife's boss the dentist of course uses a Mac. 

I never bought into the myth that Mac OS is inherently better than windows. My curiosity is based on practical reasons. For personal and business use, Windows works fine for me. However, I work with a lot of Mac users, including a number of people I tutor. It would be helpful to have some of the software at home. Also, although I love Sonar, I do like some things about Logic better. I also have students who are Final Cut users. 

Ultimately, "better" depends on what one wants and needs - it's quite subjective.
 
I like visiting Apple's web site one night, spend under an hour shopping, going to the Apple store downtown the next day and have everything up and running as soon as I press power - the only thing left to do is log into my account and download my DAW.
 
Meaning a couple of hours and I'm done thinking about computers and tech stuff for another 3 or 4 years.
 
 
A lot of people wouldn't opt for that, so Windows is by far "better" for them.
 
I don't know what Johnny means about the OS out of date and becoming unusable. That doesn't make sense. My 2010 Macbook Pro is now back to being a portable. Works A1 and has never required service. Neither has my wife's.  
 
The only maintenance I did was to run a "Verify Disk" and "Repair Disk Permissions" once every now and then - actually, I've probably done that less that 10 times in 5 years.
 
Mine has been on all day and served as a DAW for years, around for 60 hours + a week and  never had an issue. Of course, it is not optimized to run the latest OS - just like any aging PC isn't necessarily the best machine to run newer versions of Windows. So I replaced it.
 
 
 
 
 

I will probably just bite the buillet and buy a mac at some point.

Last PC I put together w/ the help of a friend could technically have been made into a Hackintosh, w/ the parts I had, and I studied the option for a while, having quite a bit of time on my hands that spring.
 
But I realized that it was probably the most un-Apple thing to do, short of building you own processor. I envisioned headache after headache.
 
Running a Windows PC was actually more in line with the Apple experience.
 
 

the real question is why ?
 
Unless you plan on using Logic ....no need to go OSX crap is it is less optimized for real time audio/video streaming .. understand here that Windows (this might sounds crazy for a non documented guy) is best sitable for audio than OSX bling bling crap  .....  

Zo
the real question is why ?
 
no need to go OSX crap is it is less optimized for real time audio/video streaming .. understand here that Windows (this might sounds crazy for a non documented guy) is best sitable for audio than OSX bling bling crap  .....  

 
There's a point where every rationnal PV vs Mac discussion goes wrong - some guy rides in and introduces a **** pro or anti argument like that and the discussion takes a turn for the worst...
 
The day you can use Windows default drivers to run your audio interface and get even better performance than you would using the manufacturer's drivers, you'll have a case. Until then, Windows is not optimized for audio.
 
It can be, with a bit of work.
 
Windows has its own strengths - every "documented guy" knows and admit that - regardless of their platform of choice.
 
Please, don't **** up this discussion with anti/pro propaganda... Just don't.  This wasn't the point. Don't ruin it. No one here is that stupid, we can figure things out, you know?