I've recently realized rather belatedly that getting to where I could ride my whole commute in the 5th gear (bike has 7: 1 is easiest, 7 hardest) isn't necessarily a good thing. I pedal much slower now. When I tried to go to an easier gear and pedal faster, I think my muscles were too worn out to be able to move my legs fast enough. It hadn't felt like they were tired at all...

So, I think I need a computer to help me get better at increasing my pedaling speed. I am a school bus driver so I'm very often pedaling to work in the dark (and soon home too!), so a backlit feature is probably needed. Won't help to have a computer if I can't see it! Temperature would also be nice. I assume they all come with speed and distance stuff.

I tried searching online and the sheer variety is mind-boggling. Plus, its very hard to specify cadence and such as features.
As inexpensive as possible is great, of course. There are lots of goodies I want to get for my bike, and I'm giving myself only a small monthly allowance to spend.

It isn't cheap but I like the Bontrager/Trek Node 2.1 (google "summit bicycles" for a good deal on it). The cheaper Node 1.1 might do everything you need.

The back-lighting probably won't work for you as well as you might think.

The Node computer runs the back-light (after you hit a button) for a short time to conserve battery power.

Since I was also reading cue sheets at night, I used a small head lamp to look at the computer (and the cue sheets).

wired or wireless? I use a sigma BC1609 wired computer. Has everything and cadence for a nice low price (30 to 40) and is backlit when the buttons are pushed for a shore period of time. They make the BC1609 STS + Cadence which is the wireless one.

I don't know of any thing that will stay backlit all of the time if that's what your looking for.

No, a temporary light is fine, I don't mind pushing buttons occasionally to see it. I just don't want to have to carry an extra flashlight in mouth
I don't care if the computer has wires or not as long as there isn't any added inconvenience for wireless- such as having to replace batteries constantly. I assume wired versions are cheaper?

You don't need a back-lit computer with cadence display to increase your cadence. To train legs to spin the pedals faster, you have to practice pedaling in a faster cadence. You wrote "ride my whole commute in the 5th gear (bike has 7: 1 is easiest, 7 hardest)". Spend some time each commute riding in a lower gear while trying to maintain the same speed. You can do it by time (1 minute "on", several "off") or by distance (1 block "on", next block or 2 "off"). Over time (several weeks), your comfortable cadence will increase. Pay attention to form, back off if you're feeling tired, increasingly uncomfortable, or in pain.

I uses these: $5 free shipping.

https://dx.com/p/sunding-electronic-b...edometer-24075

Added a small AAA LED light to the side on my helmet for night seeing.

https://dx.com/p/mini-1w-led-20-lumen...a-47995?item=2

Doesn't do cadence (it seems). It's certainly cheap.

Doesn't appear to have multiple brightness settings. It probably would be brighter than I'd want. It's certainly cheap.

Sane people would just use a headlamp.

Wired tends to be cheaper. Wireless requires an extra battery in the transmitter. Analog wireless computers can be prone to interference (including from LED lights sometimes), which can yield erroneous maximum numbers (like maximum speed and cadence). Wired computers and digital wireless really don't have this problem.

The Node 2.1 that I have is on the same batteries since from around April (and 4000 miles).

If you need cadence, wireless is a bit more convenient since you don't have to string a wired to the chainstay.

You want, in my opinion, one transmitter that handles both the wheel speed and the cadence.

They both work fine for what to OP Needs.

I use them both.

I bought the Sigma BC1609 and it works great!! Thanks for the advice