I have a pair of very fancy nakiris that Erin picked up when she was in Tokyo that I avoid cooking with (one, a blue steel not-especially-stainless one, I never use at all). That's something closer to a Veblen acquisition (though the nakiri I do sometimes use is a blast to cut with). The Mac is a workhorse. And: I mean, get _any_ Mac knife.
A friend wanted a decent chef's knife but didn't know which one would be good. I have a Global, the handle of which he found too "flimsy". His hands are wider than mine, so I took a risk and bought him a Mac as a present. (~€90/~$130 at the time.) For me, the Mac handle is a bit too large - for him it was just about perfect.
More than a decade later the knife remains in active use. Friend went a bit posh, too: he bought a sharpening cradle with a slot for whetstone and alignment supports to make sure the angle is correct. He liked it so much he didn't want to risk mistreating the blade with bad sharpening.
Moral of the story? Try out a few decent ones and get the one that fits your hand well. Then maintain it properly. For a home cook (which I am), a good chef's knife - when not abused - will last for pretty much forever. I've had the Global for nearly 20 years and plan to have it around for 20 more.
The crucial question (and the point of the article) is not that. The question is whether you actually use this $200 knife for cooking. :-)