Second this "Depends on your technical level though".

Don't be afraid to ask for help if you get stuck on your BTC journey and remember this is a learning process not a oh look at what I'm running game.

But if you can RTFM. I'd first go through the pain of installing and configuring Bitcoin Core and a Lightning node of your choosing on your own hardware. With this experience under your belt, then one can decide if these node in the box solutions are for you.