I wanted to update that I went ahead and got a Cuttlebug V3.
I am very happy with it so far! They did change the plates so that you can both cut and emboss using the A plate, 2 B plates and their new thicker grey Rubber embossing mat.
That means that I can use a die to cut (A, rubber, B, die, B) and then just move the sandwich around without having to dig out the C plate (A, B, die, rubber, B) to quickly emboss with the die still in place. It really is so much quicker!
I will keep my C plate, but am very happy with the rubber mat! I would imagine it would work in the older Cuttlebug too.