I personally enjoy using dbs over barbells for equal workloads on both sides of the body. I also like hammer strength equipment. Not all pieces though. I do like the incline, high row, one arm row, shoulder press, shrug, deadlift and wide grip press. Flex equipment is pretty decent too. I don't care for the newer hammer equipment that has the new weight stacks with the pin selector. Just a better feel for me regarding the plate loaded hammer equipment.
I think both machines and free weights are very equal. I am certainly not one of these guys that tells you that you aren't working hard unless you only use free weights. That is a load of garbage...... IMHO