do I have to research the yewt out of everything before I buy? By research, in this case, I'm really just looking at prices. I know what I want; it's just finding a knife that fits my criteria and matches what I want to spend. I'm not going to drop bennies on a Wusthof or premium Japanese knife.

I want:

• 8" santoku
• Good steel
• Appropriate taper from the spine to the cutting edge
• Full tang
• Ergonomic handle
• $50 max

There are many knives that seem to meet that criteria, but I always find some red flag in the comments.