Thanks - the settings I use:
View attachment 4098
Yes, with considerable ease. If you are in the Apple ecosystem then an always-on M1 mini makes a lot of sense given all the extra Apple network support it can add for networking, Bonjour / mDNS, HomeKit, content caching, iOS and MacOS update management etc. For a pure and agnostic Plex transcoder there may be a cheaper option than the Mac mini but it is unlikely to match the very low power used and of course, reliability.
Mine runs headless in a rackmount kit so I just screenshare in when I need to change something. It could equally be used as a regular desktop or as a media player attached to the back of a TV.