With that size of error it was your friend's set-up of the GPS that was faulty, not the GPS. Google will reveal lots of folk complaining of similar problems, the problem being diagnosed, the complainer being told how to fix it, and the complainer reporting it fixed.
If it was easy to use a GPS correctly everyone would be doing it :-)
My philosophy is it depends what you want the GPS for.
I've used map and compass for years with no problems.
Last November I misstimed my walk from Seathwaite via Honister Pass, Scarth Gap, Blacksail Pass, Styhead Pass and got "stuck" in foul conditions near Styhead. Discretion being the better part of valour, I retreated to Wasdale Head where I found an overnight stop. Mrs Buchannans farmhouse B&B is much recommended.
I bought the GPS to identify waymarks and pinpoint my position in conjunction with map & compass - not instead of map & compass. It adds a different dimension to walking but my Etrex basic, bog standard does just what I want - I suppose the message is don't get carried away buying bells & whistles if all you need is a GPS to tell you where you are.
NO, I never pointed a rocket launcher at innocent people just cos I don't like burgers and chips (oh and democracy) !!!
Compaq iPaq .... night vision binos, GPS .....
better start looking on
I've met people on mountains with a Garmin Etrex (the basic yellow one) reporting a position around a km wrong.
Answer - incorrect setup. The instruction manual is at fault, telling people to use a particular datum. Quite possibly the correct setting for the USA, but wrong for UK OS maps.
I changed the setup for them, and the position reported was where we were, reporting to a higher accuracy than any of us could measure from the maps we held.
Nigel. (not a GPS owner).
You'll be pleased to hear that no such problem exists with the later Garmin model, the Geko. I've set up a couple without needing to do anything even slightly hard, and they were both right.
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