As always, I appreciate all the input people are throwing out.
This weekend, I went to BBB and Macy's to check out knives. I didn't see any of the Japanese knives I was looking for, but I did get a feel of some calphalon (sp), wusthof, and henkels. I didn't like most of the cal or henkels all that much and the wustoff ones that seemed good to me were the classics...they had gourmet and two something series but wasn't favorable to them as they seemed heavier and bulky. Also, in trying out different ones, I found my wife really wants a good 4-5" petty/all purpose knife. I'll try to better explain since I don't know the terminology. When you hold the knife there seems to be 3 different styles. 1.) the blade runs flush with the handle, 2.) the blade goes to the edge of the handle then abruptly drops leaving a kinda sharp edge, 3.) the blade runs close to the handle, blunt but smooth edge that contours to the index finger....she likes the third one the most, but wouldn't mind the first style if the third one isn't available but definitely not the second style.
So, I was disappointed that I wasn't able to walk out with any knives, I still managed to buy a large bamboo cutting board as a starter.