Am I using the right squat rack?

OK, so on the advice of a PT at my gym, I've been using this rack that has the bar attached to the rack in some sort of cable and track system to do my squats.  The bar moves up and down at a slight angle, but it always stays in the same track and does not come free of the rack.  I also see people using it for bench presses and stuff like that.

Is there any benefit to using this setup over a more traditional squat cage?  Or am I cheating myself somehow? 

I work out alone--no spotter--if that makes any difference.

I think you are describing a Smith Machine, and from what I've read about those.... go back to the old one.

edited to add link to 10 Uses for a Smith Machine (It's not just a coat rack) - note that all but one, I believe, do not involve moving the bar at all.

I have been using the same thing, of course adding weights to it as well. So my question is why not use it until you get better at it?

When working out with weights you always have to consider risk vs. reward.  If you are bench pressing without a spotter the risk is too great to use the normal bench, in this case a smith machine is a sensible option even though the reward will be slightly less.  However if you have a traditional squat rack available I think it would be a better option than the smith machine.  As with any lift, pay careful attention to form to avoid injury.

That's a Smith machine, and PT's who recommend that clients use it for squatting should hand in their license and write out ten thousand times "I will no longer tell people to use inferior equipment that increases wear and tear on joints, provide improper spinal loading and interferes with the body's natural biomechanics in the squatting motion while simultaneously removing the crucial proprioception, balance and stabilization elements from the exercise."

 It's not completely useless of a few special situations involving rehab training and possibly some mobility drills (see 10 uses for s Smith machine) but the best way to use it is as a coat rack while you're over in the power cage or squat rack doing the real deal.

 The whole point of using a power cage or squat rack is to have safety pins you can dump the weight on if you're stuck in the hole and can't get up; the smith provides no additional safety and a whole lot of unnesecary wear and tear on your hips, ankles, lumbar, thoractic and cervical spine, shoulders, and knees  - basically every joint that bears a load through the range of motion.

I do my squats at home, so I don't have any kind of rack.  However I do front squats and I am pretty sure I could dump the weight forward pretty easily, although I have never actually done it.

When I recently went to a get a training session from a personal trainer at a local gym he indicated that he does not recommend back squats to any of his clients. 

He told me to stick with the front squats (even if I were to get access to a squat rack) and he also recommended switching it up with goblet squats. 

The Smith machine is great to do chin ups...raising or lowering the bar depending on my clients ability.

Squats...oh no no no no.

Thanks, all--I had no idea what that machine was called!  The one at my gym has more of an angle to it than the straight up-and-down ones in the link, but otherwise it's similar.

Probably I'm not squatting with as much weight as I think I am, then.  *grumble grumble*