Global 8-Inch 20cm Cook's Knife

I agree with everything DuckFat said, am just a tiny bit more positive than he is, and would like to add a few things.  If you just want to take this as a "+1," you don't need to read any farther.

Also, feel free to extend these remarks to the 10" chef knives as well.

Ergonomics:

Balance:  Global (made by Yoshikin) is one of the few lines which actually are intentionally balanced, and balanced as neutrally as possible at that.  Yet, for some reason one of the most common complaints re Global (and not just this particular knife) is balance.  You can take this as a plus or a minus.  In my opinion, balance is overrated.  The better you skills the more willing you are to accept that long knives are balanced "blade forward," and short knives are balanced "handle back."  Medium length, full tang knives, like 8" to 10-1/2" western handled chef's tend to be fairly neutral.  That is, the balance point is at or very close to  the pinch point.

Handle:  Some people love it, some people hate it.  It's not at all uncommon to hear from people who have had a Global chef's for a long time to move from love it to hate it -- not only that, but to complain about hand pain which they believe was caused by the handle.  Like Duck, I really like the handle.  However my experience with Global chef's knives has been limited to a total of a few months, taken in bites no longer than a week or two at a time.  While not the most solid foundation, on that basis, I think long term comfort is a function of grip style.  If you use a "soft pinch" you'll most likely be okay.  

Try before you buy:  For most knives, I think the importance of playing with a knife in the store is overrated.   However, not so with unusualy handles.  This is a knife you want to at least wave around for a few minutes before purchasing.  Fortunately, they're available for that at lots of brick and mortars.  Unfortunately the comfort may change with long term use (see below), and that's not something you can test in most stores.

Geometry: 

Blade Profile:  Global chef's knives have exceptional geometry, and are extremely agile.  Because of their geometry I much prefer a Global chef's to almost any German.  And somewhat prefer the Global to those Germans, like the Wusthof Ikon, with Japanese (which is really French) influenced geometry.  

Edge Geometry:  Thick, not easy to thin, and limits ultimate edge taking as well as impairing edge holding.  That's more important with Globals than many other knives, because a dull knife causes most users to tighten their grip on the handle -- and a tight grip will fatigue and even cause damage to the knife hand.

Blade Alloy Quality:

Yoshiikin uses an alloy called CroMoVa18 for Globals; and has it made solely for that purpose.  Considering the amount of chromium in the knves (there for the purpose of corrosion resistance), it performs remarkably well.  But in the greater scheme of things, its edge taking properties are not very good.  It rolls easily.  It wears farily quickly too.  And because of the knives' thick edge geometry, it all makes the knife seem very dull.

If you're a good sharpener, and you don't mind hitting the steel frequently, you can keep that under control.

Bottom Line:

An idea whose time is past.  There are much better knives for the money. 

Not Recommended. 

 I had a few Globals in my box for a number of years. They are not better than Wusthof or other German knives and in some cases not as good. The Global has a VERY thick spine and is not made from steel that is all that much better than German knives. The net result is that you just don't get the great results that many other J-knives offer. IE razor thin and super sharp. Global seems to still get a bit of attention from those who read Kitchen Confidential which was first published ten years ago. A lot has changed in that time frame. Global was one of the very first J-knives readily available in North America and the latest greatest thing 10-12 years ago. Things change.
There seem to be a lot of complaints about the handle but I found it to be one of the better features of the knife. I never experienced any fatigue with it nor is it slippery thanks to the dimples in the handle.
IMO Global knives are a poor choice today with so many J-knives available that are far thinner and made from better steel. Since a Picture is worth a thousand words and today the focus is on the super thin Gyuto profiles I added a photo of the Global Gyuto (right) up against an 8" Wusthof (left) and a 10" wide heavy Wusthof (center). The profile of the Global is very low unlike a German knife so how you grip the knife will be some thing you want to consider if you opt for a Global.

Global knives were in my mind the chef knife to have. As a professional chef i'm always looking for a better tool. I bought the Global 8in. It has great weight, and is durable to withstand the hard environment of a working kitchen. The only problem is keeping it sharp, I mean properly. It never came back to that beautifully new sharp. I had it professionally sharpened and it dulled in about an hour. I ended up giving it away. Huge disappointment!

Great knife for the value, easy to handle in small kitchen keep fantastic edge for long time and a liitle flreat with the steel and is back to perfection