Macbook Pro 13 Inch or Macbook Pro Retina 13 inch?

Question

So I'm going to be purchasing a new laptop in the spring, and I'm debating whether to buy the regular macbook pro (13 inch) or the retina.  I currently have the mid 2009 macbook pro.  I'll be going to college next year and lugging it around, so size is definitely a factor, although the regular macbook isn't too heavy in my opinion.  I don't do anything particually crazy on my laptop (use it mainly for browsing, email, word processing etc). The only thing with the retina is I'm not sure if I'm ready to give up my optical drive...I know it's a thing of the past, but still. It would be nice if it played the sims 3, but I doubt either one would do that very well. 
If anyone has either laptop if you could tell me what you think about it that would be great, thanks!
(note: I'd be willing to go for the upgraded 13 inch macbook pro, but only the baseline macbook pro w/ retina)

Answer 1

The Retina MBPs are in their first generation, so long-term reliability is uncertain. I, too, have 2009 MBP (though I swapped out the drive for an SSD). It's the best of both worlds - flexility and speed.
If you're worried about heft, the MBP-R and MBP-A are your two Apple choices, and if you still want occasional access to an optical drive, you can always plug in an external. The problems may not be apparent, right off: the MBP-R and -A are hard to service, and you can't change out the RAM or SSD, or upgrade your hardware. But I strongly suggest stopping by the Apple Store sometime down the line, so you can see what the displays look like.
Given your computing needs, updating your current MBP with an SSD may bring your machine up to date.