270 is long. There's a sort of rough rule of thumb you see in the specialty kitchen knife forums that home cooks are happier with 240s while people with pro experience prefer 270. To my mind, as long as you've got a big board and a good grip, there's not much difference.
The big downside to using a knife as thin as a Konosuke without good skills, is torquing the blade so it doesn't stay square in the cut, which makes it bind or flex. It's actually a bigger deal with inexperienced pros than home cooks, because they keep pushing through without taking the time to adjust.
The Konosuke HD and White #2 are very easy knives to sharpen to extreme sharpness. The stainless maxxes out easily, but it's "sharpest," isn't as good as the other alloys. Unless you have very good knife AND sharpening skills, you probably won't notice this. You will notice that the HD and carbon are more pleasant on the stones.
The thinner the knife, the less you notice asymmetry... up to a point. I still notice the difference with a Konosuke, but don't consider it a big deal by any means.
I consider the Konosuke gyutos to be nearly ideal for me, but some of the "fit" is idiosyncratic. For instance, the knife's natural action, a function of its profile, suits me to a "T," but not everyone has the same action. I should probably add that at this point I use my 300mm suji as often as my 270 gyuto as my "go-to gyuto." For instance, I used the suji for all prep for Thanksgiving dinner for 12, and that's a lot of onions. I'm not saying "look at me," or suggesting you should "do as I do" (you shouldn't), but letting you know what I mean by "idiosyncratic."
There's a conventional wisdom among knife guys that a laser might not be the best choice as the first, really good gyuto. That makes sense to me, but every "noob" who's bought one and written to me has been deliriously happy. As you might (or might not) guess, I get a lot of posts, PM, and mail on the subject. I usually recommend the MAC Pro or Masamoto VG as the first good, stainless, Japanese made cook's knives. The MAC especially, because it's got all the Japanese virtues while being enough like a western knife to be immediately comfortable. That said, a yo or wa laser might function just as well as something more robust.
I hear a lot of good things about the Gesshin Ginga (laser thin yo at JKI), and about the Richmond Addict 2 (thin but not too thin, US made, wa at CKtG) too; but (and?) they're very different from one another. Which to recommend? That's more up to the OP, than to me. There are a lot of other great knives -- yo or wa; stainless, semi-stainless, or carbon; flatter or more belly; drop tip or mid line; laser, thin, or regular; expensive, very expensive, or ridiculous. You name the combination and we can probably find a knife to fill the niche. Here, we're working to find what you want so we can point to a few knives, rather than making a comprehensive list of knives.
The question is not what's good, but finding the right fit at a comfortable price. And at these prices, the "right fit" should include the buyer's aesthetics as well as the knife's performance. You should LOVE this knife.
And as always: Quality knives are all about sharpening. If you don't have a real commitment to good sharpening, don't spend a lot of money on a knife.
BDL
