Maximum PC

I read you have to have a mac to make iPhone apps,so I was planning on just getting a mac mini.....but I at first thought I want to build a hackintosh with win 7.... but I heard you have problems trying to get apps certified thru the app store without a real mac pc

Yes, these are all true.

If you aren't comfortable doing the research yourself, cross the Hackintosh off your list. At some point, you will encounter a problem that will require lots of googling and forum searching.

Given that, a Mac Mini is the cheapest alternative. In order to run the iPhone SDK, you need an Intel-based computer running some flavour of MacOSX.

Some people have had success running OSX in a VM, though .. you could try that first since it doesn't require spending any money.

ok, thanks for the info, I'll look into the vm also

You could also get a used or refurbished mac and save a bit of cash.

Will the iPad be capable of running the needed software to create iPhone apps?

No ... the iPad does not have an Intel CPU.

Thanks for the info.

thanks for the replys everyone,I found a mini over at frys for 400...I think I'll get this....and add more memory later

Be warned that Macs don't take regular memory, and Mac memory is expensive.

They technically don't, but on a Mac Mini, a DDR2 SO-DIMM will work the majority of the time. Getting the thing open is the hard part.