Touchpad/mouse jumps, buttons freeze

PROBLEM: When I use various single applications, the mouse (touchpad) on occasion jumps to a seemingly random location on the screen; usually happens only if I am moving the mouse. But the killer is that sometimes the mouse buttons stop responding -- requiring me to reboot the system atleast a few times each day.

QUESTION: Is there some different driver I should be trying?

Dell Latitude D600
Ubuntu 9.04
Linux 2.6.18-15-generic
xserver-xorg 1:7.4~5ubuntu18
xserver-xorg-core 2:1.6.0-0ubuntu14
Gnome 2.26.1
A search for mouse/touchpad from the /var/log/messages.0 file yields:

Sep 19 15:46:36 TOBY kernel: [ 1.942568] input: Macintosh mouse button emulation as /devices/virtual/input/input3
Sep 19 15:46:36 TOBY kernel: [ 2.602703] mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
Sep 19 20:45:33 TOBY kernel: [ 2380.120498] input: AlpsPS/2 ALPS DualPoint TouchPad as /devices/platform/i8042/serio1/input/input11
Sep 19 20:56:43 TOBY kernel: [ 3050.742924] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1
Sep 19 20:56:43 TOBY kernel: [ 3050.746262] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 - driver resynched.
Sep 19 20:56:43 TOBY kernel: [ 3050.747327] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1
Sep 19 20:56:43 TOBY kernel: [ 3050.769926] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 - driver resynched.
Sep 19 20:56:43 TOBY kernel: [ 3050.926528] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 2
Sep 19 20:56:43 TOBY kernel: [ 3050.927612] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1
Sep 19 20:56:43 TOBY kernel: [ 3050.928794] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1
Sep 19 20:56:43 TOBY kernel: [ 3050.932090] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 - driver resynched.
Sep 19 21:36:45 TOBY kernel: [ 5452.113320] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1
Sep 19 21:36:45 TOBY kernel: [ 5452.114402] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1
Sep 19 21:36:45 TOBY kernel: [ 5452.115602] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1
Sep 19 21:36:45 TOBY kernel: [ 5452.116717] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1
Sep 19 21:36:45 TOBY kernel: [ 5452.117880] psmouse.c: DualPoint TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1
Sep 19 21:36:45 TOBY kernel: [ 5452.117884] psmouse.c: issuing reconnect request
Sep 19 21:36:46 TOBY kernel: [ 5453.785487] input: AlpsPS/2 ALPS DualPoint TouchPad as /devices/platform/i8042/serio1/input/input14