Based on the conversation above, I'll be installing Umbrel on a refurbished Think Centre that I picked up for $100 less than the Umbrel Home with similar specs for the CPU and RAM. I have a 5TB HDD that I'll be bringing over to the new machine, too.
Discussion
Don't install umbrel. Just install all your apps from the source
Go with a linux distro, you think?
Ubuntu is fine
Honestly windows is okay for Plex. Containers are a little trickier on windows because of wsl.
I'd rather go with Ubuntu or Mint. Running mint on my main PC, so I am getting pretty familiar with it already.
However, what I have appreciated about Umbrel is the web interface that I can easily access from my PC without having to go plug a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Is that available with other Linux distros? You'd think it might be, since Umbrel is just Linux under the hood.