iPad 1.

I enter an event into the iPad calendar app and it shows "6:30 PM to 7:30PM" in the floating Edit window but the actual event appears at 5:30.

I am syncing with Google which shows events at the correct time.

Google is set to "New York" for a time zone.
Settings | General | Set Date & Time is set to "New York" with Set Automatically turned off.
Mail, Contacts, Calendars - Time Zone Support is set to "New York."

The iPad has the correct time within a minute. (The Set Automatically gives an incorrect time by about 20 minutes.)