Decking Out Your 'Man Cave'

There's a dearth of gadget leadership these days.

These days, you don't have to be the world's richest man to build a man cave stocked with digital minions.

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When billionaire Bill Gates built his multimillion-dollar mansion on the shores of Lake Washington, it was tailored to be ahead of the pack. It was T1 broadband in a time of 56k dial-up modems, flat panels in a time of cathode ray tubes, trampolines in a time of linoleum.

Replete with such technology, Gates' lair was the envy of gadget guys worldwide. It was the ultimate "man cave"--the kind of place embellished with high technology, not throw pillows.

These days, you don't have to be the world's richest man to build a man cave stocked with digital minions. Yet rather than moving on to the latest wireless electricity or OLED screens, Gates' zest for gadget luxury seems to be languishing. The latest word from Lake Washington is that devices are banished from the premises. On what other technological goodness could Gates be missing out on?

In Pictures: 20 Gadgets For Your 'Man Cave'

Maybe Gates grew bored of it all during race to lower price points for its own consumer gadgets. Or perhaps the ennui set in after changes in retail commerce meant that a couple clicks on the Internet could bring Batcave-like functionality to any room.

Whatever the cause, anyone looking up to Gates for gadget leadership shouldn't let the loss deter them. Budgetary choices are one's own business, of course, but in Gates' absence we have a couple of guiding technologies that will get any man cave going. They fall into three categories: networking, displays and robots.

Today's over-the-air gadgets suck down wireless Internet from all corners. For supplying ample bandwidth, a Linksys Dual-Band Wireless-N-Gigabit Router will do the trick. It uses the new, faster 802.11n wireless Internet standard, which offers multiple-input, multiple-output connectivity that makes connections stronger as the signals bounce around the room.