The X-rite probes all seem pretty good, be careful 2nd hand though as they do drift over time.
Of course, they are at the low end of the market, but unless the probe is faulty, you end up with a much better reference point than not using one.
I’ll make some images up soon to show why it is so important, but I honestly don’t take feedback on board from anyone that has not at least got a basic calibration setup happening for their workflow, as you say, they are often commenting on things that are unique to their screen/OS/media player, and not in the actual files themselves.

The easiest thing to me, is to buy a cheap BMD output card, a cheap i1 probe and use the free DisplayCAL software and use the free version of daVinci Resolve to look at colour on a separate monitor/TV and be able to know 100% that what you are looking at is actually calibrated, without your player or Operating System or incorrect colourspace settings getting in the way. For a total of less than $200 you can have a truly colour managed system that you can trust, which is pretty amazing really.