Do search on this forum: there are many threads covering this issue, which seems to come up for everyone redoing their kitchen. I found useful advice there that led me to the Xenon lights I chose.

Just type "Undercabinet lighting" into the search box.

Actually, I did do that before I posted. I searched several phrases (puck lights, under cabinet lights, etc.), but didn't find answers to quite the questions I'm asking. I'm really looking for opinions on rope vs puck, as well as LED vs everything else.

But thanks for the suggestion. ;)

I could be very wrong, but I thought the rope lights were more accent lights for above cabinets, rather than task lights under cabinets. That might explain why you're underwhelmed by the candlepower.

And I have a battery powered LED cheapie, I don't think it is comparable to the real deal, it also throws off a disappointing amount of light. I don't know much about LED, but I think bayou_citizens used them and linked to a good helpful source.

I hear the pucks give little pools of light, and if you don't think you want that, you might want to focus on the xenon strip lights or possibly the xenon linear lights if you don't like fluorescent. a search for seagull linear or kichler linear will pull up some options, and kichler and others have low profile xenon strip fixtures that can be installed. I think the consensus is that some worry that even the xenon can be too hot if its in an encased (strip) fixture, so that's why some folks choose the exposed bulb linear systems.

I haven't ordered mine yet, because they're so confusing, especially if you go for a low-voltage system with a remote transformer. I should be working that out fairly soon, so I'll post again if I find a good source or explanation. Good luck!

I just installed Xenon in my glass cabinet and T4 fluorescent under cabinet. All purchased from Pegasus lighting.

I am quite happy with the T4, the xenon is more for show and uses more energy (and HOT) All my lights are plug in and I control them wirelessly. I described how I installed the wireless in the following post, if you are interested.

This is still under construction I propped a light rail up to test the effect:

Here is a link that might be useful: wireless control for lights

I don't think you mentioned whether or not you already have your backsplash installed. If not, my 2 cents worth is that I am really glad I chose xenon light boxes for my under cab lighting.
I got three 1" Kichler light boxes in white metal. They were installed at the back of my existing cabs. The GC trimmed these with reclaimed wood trim from previous tile countertops. I think they look terrific. The light quality is great and they aren't terribly hot. They do warm things in the cabinet shelf right above, but don't melt anything.
The result looks very custom and low-key. The Kichler lights have a low/high rocker switch. The guy at the lighting store recommended putting them all on one switch with a dimmer, but to save money, we just had them installed separately. I really don't mind turning them on/off separately, and actually, it's nice to be able to have just one turned on if I want.

I still haven't found lighting that I'm satisfied with. I tried the rope lighting, but I hate the multiple (several sections of cabinet) heavy cords snaking down to the outlets.

Originally, I had chosen rope lighting to avoid the pools of light from puck lights reflecting off the granite that Evilbunnie mentioned. But since the rope lighting didn't work out, I picked up a couple of battery-powered, LED puck lights and tried them, but the light is bluish and doesn't look very good.

Then I got some of those cheap, battery-operated *moon* lights (pop lights, push lights, whatever varied names they go by) to try. They also don't give off much light. If they gave off more light, they would work fine for me. I guess I'm spoiled by the flourescent bars that my mom has in her kitchen -- but hers are installed behind a front piece that hides them from view (too late for me to do that, plus I have long, 42-inch cabs and wouldn't want to lose the counter clearance).

The heat factor on the xenon lights does worry me a bit. It may not be a realistic worry, but it would make me nervous about it possibly causing a fire.

Yes, my backsplash is already installed. In fact, at this point, I'm going to have to live with what I have for a while.

But what I'd really LOVE to find is rope lighting that's battery-operated and gives off plenty of warm, yellow glowing light. Sigh. A fantasy, I know. Doesn't exist. Oh well, I can dream.... ;P

But now that I'm fantasizing...one of the salesmen in Lowe's mentioned that he has xmas lights in his kitchen instead of rope lighting. Think that would work? It would probably be much easier to hide the cord. (The rope lighting has THICK white cords, xmas lights generally have thin, dark green wiring.) Would it be *safe*?

I don't see why it wouldn't be safe, and you can also get christmas lights with white cording instead of green. It would be cheap and easy enough to try, anyway. The only thing that might be a pain is that christmas lights are notorious for screwing up in one way or another, but maybe if you were happy with them you could get higher quality ones that don't go dead a the drop of a hat. I like the idea, let us know if it works for you.

The heat of the xenon pucks shouldn't burn up anything -- if installed to manufacturer's recommendations. The glass lens does get hot (I was putting it away after testing and accidently melted some plastic over the lens)

The color rendering is great from the Xenon, but they are not as effecient as fluorescent, where I live in California the code restrict the amount of Incandescent lights vs fluorescent, for every Watt of fluorescent I can have one watt of incandescent. The 3 pucks in my glass cabs uses the same energy as all 3 strips of under cabinet lights. So if you live else where, I would go with the Xenon under cab lights. But I am happy with the fluorescent, it does help with my electricity bill.

Regular 120v Led bar under cabinet lights are the way to go because they come in different lengths to fit different cabinets, the bulbs don't get hot, last forever, and have comparable light quality. If you have to have the lights dimmable then go with xenon bar lights. A cord can always be wired to the bar light, and bar lights are usually linkable for retrofit situations.

Here is a link that might be useful: Under Cabinet Lights Sale