Which IR-Leds for small project

I'm starting a little Arduino project and need some IR-leds therefore. Goal is to control a RGB Led Strip Controller that is normally steered by a simple remote control by Arduino Duemilanove.

I need the IR-Leds to cover at least 2-4 meters of distance, what i don't want is an additional power supply (so just run the Arduino / IR-Led(s) via the USB interface) or other parts (like transitors / etc).

As i saw there are different kinds of IR-leds (wavelengths 850 - 940nm, 20-100 Ma power consumption, 10-45 degrees, etc...).

Which ones would fit best for this project?
Is / can there a benefit if i would use multiple IR-leds?

Which ones would fit best for this project?

It doesn't matter too much however the IR diode wavelength has to match the peak sensitivity of what ever IR receiver you use.
If you are sending data over IR then you need to modulate the IR and use a modulated IR receiver. Again you must match your modulation frequency to the frequency the receiver is using. A value of 38KHz is quite common.