How cheap are you looking to go?
I have some "KAI for Williams-Sonoma" knives that were made in China. They have plastic handles and matching painted blades and come with protective blade covers. The 8" chef's knife is selling for about $15 and they have several other sizes and shapes. I have a total of 4 knives from this brand (chef, santoku, 2 paring). I keep them around for when I want a beater knife where wouldn't use my nicer kitchen knives.
There is also a KAI "Pure Komachi 2" line which is similar but not exclusive to just Williams-Sonoma. KAI is the parent company of Shun, Kershaw, and Zero Tolerance. These particular knives have a 5-year limited warranty, but at the price it might not be worth the cost of mailing it to them.
The ones I have are fairly light and thin slicers with good ergonomics. The steel is relatively soft which makes them easy to sharpen, and they respond well to using a honing steel. I am a pretty decent sharpener so having a soft steel that I can quickly touch up is not a problem for me. If you want an edge that will hold up a long time, then you might need to look for a harder steel. I really don't use the chef's knife that much, but I have used the santoku and the paring knives a bit and they seem to keep a decent edge when used for cutting typical soft foods on a cutting board. I haven't tried anything like breaking down a whole chicken.
If you are looking for a truly good value line of kitchen knives, then Victorinox Fibrox seems to be the go-to recommendation, though those are about $40-45 for the 8" chef, and you find them in various sets. Lifetime warranty. I don't own any of these myself.
