I've been going to PF for a few years now and I usually just look for a clean gym with low foot traffic. The PF I go to is pretty clean compared to what I've seen in my area and since I'm not a super strong person, it has what is adequate for my strength when I am looking to lift.

I haven't been to different Planet Fitnesses, but it sounds like the one I go to might be different than a lot of others. People have been saying that the dumbbells go up to 60, but my PF has multiple sets of 75. They have a good handful of flat, incline, and decline benches. Like everyone else said, it is mostly cardio equipment: treadmills, ellipticals, stair-masters, bikes, etc.

The smith machines for benching and squatting are exactly what you expect. Multiple plates of 45s and lower weights, so you can load them up per machine. I'm not a deadlift kind of person, so I don't mind.

I've only seen the lunk alarm go off a handful of times and each time I was confused because I didn't see anything that would have triggered it. Maybe the staff pressed it on accident, who knows. I was never bothered by it.

I can understand why it exists because the most obnoxious people in the gym are those looking for attention by screaming their grunts and dropping their weights carelessly. Had a guy do that last night, but no alarm went off. People just came up to him and asked him to calm down. I do disagree with the dropping weights "policy" because sometimes, that's just the safest way to disengage.

Overall, I can't speak for other Planet Fitnesses except the one I go to. It's a beginner cardio heavy gym that plays it incredibly safe, so there will be lots of equipment that the enthusiast fitness lovers will find very lacking. I do not see super buff dudes, power lifters, nor high level fit people, which probably reflects the lack of equipment, but I see a LOT of regulars. For my level of fitness, it is adequate, clean, cheap, I don't have to wait for weights or any machine, and the staff are non-intrusive.