again, multiple reports that Broadwell will not be released to OEMs in time for this year. because you can't just release the chips and have instant machines. you still have to design around the chip. no Broadwell Surfaces until next year.
And for all the criticism of 16:9. Here's some food for thought. If you like to use the Windows 8/8.1 snap mode, 16:9 gives you more room. When I'm snapping Sound Recorder to the side and taking notes in Word on the other side, that extra length helps.
As for portrait mode, because it's a heavy machine, you're not going to hold it in a traditional tablet manner where your hand bears the burden. My brother and I both cradle it in our arm.
Now, for my Surface RT, I can hold it more like a traditional tablet because it's light but I still end up cradling it most of the time when I'm in portrait. But here's another advantage of 16:9 in portrait. I have a spreadsheet for my medical offices. I can see a lot more rows without scrolling because it's 16:9. Yes, the narrowness means I can't see as many columns. But for seeing a wide view of multiple rows (the different offices), it's more important to see more rows than more columns. And if I want to see a ton of columns, well 16:9 landscape lets me see more than 4:3 landscape.
this isn't the old days. machines are going to be updated regularly. If you don't have an SP2, then get the SP3.
I can definitely see upgrading from SP to SP3 as SP had all the roughness of a first-gen model. But SP2 is really really nice.