PSA: the meta worth the hype? [v3]

Maybe an unpopular opinion but here we go. Spent the last few weekends digging into this and the deeper I go the more questions I have.

This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks. The trade-offs here are not obvious to me and I keep flip-flopping.

Quick context: I am relatively new to this and trying to find my footing. Long-time lurker, first-time poster. For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land.