I have the same laptop model (Inspiron 1545), which I bought from Dell with Ubuntu 9.10 pre-installed. Everything worked until the touchpad broke in late November 2010. However, my symptoms are slightly different: I can't use the right touchpad button but can move the cursor. Tapping is extremely sensitive and can't be disabled. See my bug report:
I have the same laptop model (Inspiron 1545), which I bought from Dell with Ubuntu 9.10 pre-installed. Everything worked until the touchpad broke in late November 2010. However, my symptoms are slightly different: I can't use the right touchpad button but can move the cursor. Tapping is extremely sensitive and can't be disabled. See my bug report:
https:/ /bugs.launchpad .net/ubuntu/ +source/ linux/+ bug/705243