The effectiveness of Smith Machines 

Casual lifters, and people focused on strength progression would benefit from a smith machine. Anyone doing anything explosively athletic like Olympic lifts or focused on building mass will not benefit as much from a smith machine as with Olympic lifting, its about being explosive and powerful, it's far more athletic than powerlifting, and those looking to build mass, like bodybuilders and the other mutant children of them will not want to use a smith machine at all, as they miss out on progressing and growing all the other muscles that are used for stabilization purposes when you use traditional barbells. Tl;DR: It boils down to your goals and style of lifting and goals, if your just generally training, smith machines are ABSOLUTELY FINE, and even some very large lifters like Sam Sulek use smithing machine specifically after they've exhausted the stabilizers and/or they want to put direct focus on a specific portion of the pec, etc. It's an odd thing to try to discuss/argue. It's not detrimental to use a smith machine in anyway. It's detrimental to focus on a full routine around a smith machine as variety is the spice of life.

Hello, if you had to purchase the major fitness rack....would you purchase the smith or the regular rack with pullys?