I’ve done a little searching here, and I see the brands Deglon and Henckels mentioned. Anyone agree, or have other brands that work well? I don’t have specific jobs in mind, just a good all-purpose knife, and if it looks totally cool, that would be a plus. 
We use Henckels and are quite happy with them. The wife gets me a new one every birthday. I love my 7" Santoku.
I like my relatively inexpensive 8" steel chef’s knife by Calphalon. It’s all steel, handle and all, one piece (so you don’t have handle issues) and easy to maintain. If you don’t like the feel of the steel handle, you can always wrap it in something.
I’ll throw in another vote for Henckels knives.
Most brand knives are worth their money, I think. Henckels, Sabatier…you pay more, you get more. Well, you also pay more for “design”, (hint: if the knife doesn’t look like a knife, that’s because it is “designed”). But only you can decide if design is worth the higher price for you.
What really makes the difference in the long run though, is if you sharpen your knives every month or so. Even the most expensive knife gets dull with use, and sharpening it makes it as good as new again.Here is a thread discussing knives and sharpeners.
I have an 8" Deglon and I love it.
I also have a $20 cleaver that I bought from Lee Valley and that mofo is sharp, heavy and awesome!
Henckels and Wusthoff are great, though for the former make sure you’re getting the kind that’s made in Germany, not China or anywhere else. Og knows why Henckels lends its name to all those cheapie offshoots (henckels Int’l is one, I think). You’ll be able to tell straight away if the handle and blad aren’t fused, or if the blade bends easily to pressure. Or, you know, check the box.
The best knife will be one that you’re comfortable using and can keep sharp. The best knife in the world does you no good if it never leaves the block because you don’t like how it feels.
There’s no substitute for going out and picking up knives to find how they feel in your hand. Some people love the smooth rounded “ergonomic” styles and others hate them, for example.
Different lines will also have different size handles. Henckels, for example has really only three lines worth considering - 4-star, 5-star and Pro-S. All three have essentially the same blades, but the handles are different. The 4-star has smaller “ergo” handles with a pronounced “butt” that’s uncomfortable in large hands. The 5-star has a smoother ergo style without the butt, and the Pro-S has the classic non-ergo, riveted style handle.
Echoing what gotpasswords just said, here’s what I posted in a similar thread:
I was internet shopping, but I see y’all are right about holding a knife in your hand. Thanks.
Go to your local Bed, Bath and Beyond and try some out. When you find what you like, hit the web and see what kind of price you can get it at. Best of both worlds.
FWIW, I find the non-ergo handles on the Henckels Pro-S knives to be the best fit for me.
The big choice is Stainless vs High carbon (or damascus).
No doubt, High Carbon is better but- it is very high maintenence.
For either I suggest using a sharpening steel after/before just about every use.
No love for the Ginzu? I’ve heard it sharpens as you use it.
I personally do not like any of the knives that have stainless steel blades. The blades that require you to keep them dry to avoid rusting may mean additional care (can’t wash them in the dishwasher, can’t immerse them to soak, etc) but they are far more pleasant to sharpen, in my experience.
I use Old Hickory knives which have blades by Ontario Knife Works.
Same here. And, with the ever-present (and non-expiring) 20% off coupons for BBBY, it was cheaper to buy our knives there, rather than online.
If you do decide to try locally, but buy online, at least be polite and don’t tie up the store staff’s time.
One other tip - we did not buy some grand 84-piece set that includes 22 steak knives, a left handed ham knife, and silly whatnots. Instead, our collection evolved over a couple years - we had a smallish block with a hodgepodge of mediocre knives, and we started out replacing one by one, based on what we used. When we got the 10" chef knife, they were running a promo for a free block that had enough slots that our existing steak knives could have a new home.
As time went on, we’d occasionally hit a point of “Hey, we could really stand to get a new boning knife” or “Oh look! They’ve finally got cleavers on sale!” and add things one at a time as we felt a need.
That’s the same way we are doing it. Piece by piece, birthday by birthday.
I got KellyM a Wusthof cleaver, boning knife, and chef’s knife for Christmas. They are great knives for meat, comfortable, sharp, and the right weight for the job. She and hubby got me kyocera black ceramic knives, a santuko, a bird’s beak, and a paring knife. These cannot be beat for fruit and vegetables. Slice an apple and it just doesn’t turn brown and yucky. I can’t believe how nice it is not having my fruit oxidize the moment it is sliced. They are also as sharp as anything I have ever used and have remained like new. I use the paring knife for grapefruit at breakfast and it is a dream.
I also picked up a henkel’s paring knife that was slightly longer than the kyocera at Super H Mart for $8. It is just as sharp as the ceramic knives, and thinner, so it is better for a couple of tasks.
The reason I went with Wusthof is that I knew what I would get. As far as I can tell a Wusthof is a Wusthof and it is always quality. There are Henkels and Sabatier knives that are among the very best, but there are others bearing the name which are mediocre. I did my shopping at Chefsknivestogo and was very pleased by their service. Since I was shopping online, I had to know the brand well enough to know what I would get.
I’ll put that on the list next to the car that produces gasoline as its exhaust.
It’s not enough just to state the name of the brand; Henckles has a line of low-quality knives that aren’t worth their inflated prices, while the much-maligned Chicago Cutlery makes some pretty decent knives on the upper end. I don’t own any, but I’ve handled Messermeister knives and have been pretty impressed with both the feel and construction of this series.
A couple things to note: stay away from exotic materials (in particular, ceramic), and if you’re using them in a home kitchen stainless is best for ease of maintenance. Not only does carbon steel require more diligence to keep clean and dry, but it also doesn’t generally keep an edge as well or as long as a high vanadium stainless, albeit the latter will be harder to sharpen. (A good high carbon stainless, made from something like 440C is a good compromise, but you see relatively few knives made of this anymore.) Another is that you really only need three knives for general use–a large chef’s knife (~8-10", longer than that is unwieldy), a 4-5" utility/boning knife, and a 3" paring knife. You might need other blades for specialized uses, but these three are the daily drivers, and buying a 12 piece knife set with a absurd selection of blades is a waste of money. In general, you can also toss the steel, unless it is a ceramic sharpening steel. Most steels do nothing, claims about “aligning the edge” notwithstanding. (If your edge is so wire-fine that you can “align” it with a steel, you need to put it on a stone and take it down to something more substantial.)
Also, get yourself a decent sharpening stone, or find someone who can sharpen it for you. With a good hard stainless you won’t need to sharpen it often with regular use, but you should have it sharpened every few months or before it gets dangerously dull.
Stranger
I’ve got a set of Goldhamster knives that are great. German composite steel, nice heft and good balance. Like any knife though, you gotta keep after them with a steel and sometimes a stone. They keep an edge for a reasonable time and take an edge quickly.
I’d also recommend picking up the knife, laying it down, picking it up, like you might if you were actually using it, especially trying to do it without really looking. I bought this Global knife for a paring knife - it felt good in my hand, but notice the slimness of the blade, the symmetry of the handle, and how it could easily be inverted in your hand if you weren’t paying attention. I used it for a number of months and had a number of near-accidents where I would lay down the knife and then pick it up the other way, nearly placing my forefinger tip on the pointing-up blade edge. Fortunately I never even nicked my skin since I had the presence of mind to realize things weren’t quite right, but I realized that I couldn’t count on good fortune to protect me forever. I bought a new paring knife (a Calphalon) with a very distinctly shaped blade and handle so that there would be no mistaking how it should be picked up and held.