Lady Hamilton, I would always go with the extra gearing over the brakes. If you are not going to be riding in the rain all of the time or you will mostly be on pavement, I am not sure you would need discs. Just my personal preference. I have had discs only on a mountain bike and I found them exceedingly difficult to get used to and forget about it if you crash or the brakes even just need work; even my mechanically inclined husband who works on all of our bikes needed to bring the discs to a shop for work.
I have 11-32 on my Silque and 11-34 on my Guru. If you can get a lower gear, go for it, especially if you live in a hilly area. When I teach a basic bike workshop, the mantra is "the most important gear on your bike is the lowest one." It does not mean you are tough to climb in a hard gear where you have to mash the pedals.
North Woods, now I know how I got that woman's bike in a lower gear! Thanks for the primer. I would always be misshifting.