I won't add much to the quality discussion, as other folks have already done so, but will add that Scott is a pleasure to deal with.
Regarding 2R or 3R, I would recommend that you consider 2R.
I went a typical hobbiest route from traditional 3R, to semi-scale 3R, to scale 3R. I wish my last jump had been to 2R. At the point it is too late to change from 3R to 2R, as I would have a difficult (and expensive) time, trying to replace my 3R trains with 2R trains. Because of this, I have learned to accept the 'horrible' 3rd rail.
Jim