Mac Pro w/or w/o Retina Display?

[forward bite]

Going to purchase a 13" Mac Pro for my 8th grader. Looking for pro and cons on with or without retina display. I realize that the ones with retina display are newer and for the most part better, but I have been told they are not upgradeable. I know the ones without retina are upgradable and also have a disk drive. My hope is this will get her through most of high school. Would we be better off buying the one with retina and just purchasing an external drive and memory? Any thoughts or experience would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[M.O.A.]

If you're watching movies or gaming the retina is noticeably better. For general use either is just fine. The external hard drives are a PITA