Console buffering is done by the console, independent of Java. If you
can modify the console mode, then yes. On platforms where stty is
available, you can use something like this:

 static String getInputMode() {
   String mode = null;

   try {
     String[] cmd = {
       "/bin/sh",
       "-c",
       "/bin/stty -g < /dev/tty"
     };
     Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);
     BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(p.getInputStream()));
     mode = br.readLine();
     p.waitFor();
     br.close();
   }
   catch (IOException e) {} // should probably deal with this
   catch (InterruptedException e) {}

   return mode;
 }

 static void setInputMode(String mode) {
   try {
     String[] cmd = {
       "/bin/sh",
       "-c",
       "/bin/stty " + mode + " < /dev/tty"
     };
     Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);
     p.waitFor();
   }
   catch (IOException e) {}
   catch (InterruptedException e) {}
 }

Then:

 String savedMode = getInputMode();
 
 try {
   setInputMode("-icanon min 1");
   doRestOfProgram();
 }
 finally {
   setInputMode(savedMode);
 }

Note that by doing this you lose the command line editing capabilities
normally provided by the console.

/gordon  

If you want to stay platform-independent, I recommend using Swing or AWT
to display a text area for input and output.  Then you will have full
control.

HTH,
Ray