Recommendations of type & brand for headlight bulb replacements?

[RMcG]

One of my headlight bulbs has apparently failed: dim low beam, but good high beam. So it is probably the bulb, not a connection. So the other headlight will likely soon fail as well. I think these are the factory bulbs, even though the car is 14 1/2 years old. It has about 115K miles on it. I think the bulbs now in there are halogen incandescent. But, I think these type of bulbs are becoming obsolete. HIDs and LEDs seem to be taking over now.

Can anybody recommend a good replacement bulb?

HIDs or LEDs?

I am not interested in super performance, just something that works well in terms of lighting, is durable in terms of lifespan and is not expensive.

I mainly drive in city/suburbs which are well lit, but fairly often in rural areas.

I want to get one that lasts a long time so I don't have to do this again soon. Because there seems to be controversy on the forum about how difficult it is to change them. Some people (and apparently the Toyota repair manual) say you have to remove or loosen the bumper. Other people say, no it's not that hard, you just do it the way you normally do: reach in, unscrew the old, screw in the new.


Thanks,

R.