I've been told that items from deal extreme take a while to arrive. I got my LED strips
from eBay for about $40. They are RGB and can change to whatever color you're in the mood for.
This weekend I'll be going green for St. Patricks Day

You can change the intensity of them from dim to bright. When I set them to white and turn them up, they are pretty darn bright!

And if you're looking for some pretty bright LED pods, all mine came from
SuperBrightLEDs.comOh and to answer your questions.... these strips have an adhesive backing. I could probably read by them for a little bit, but I think that after a little while it may strain even my eyes.