TM 8204 sudden shutdown during sleep

So recently, my 8204 has developed an annoying new habit: It shuts down during sleep mode. I can't figure out why.

- Sleep mode (suspend) used to work just fine
- Sleep mode still apparently works. When I close the lid of the laptop, it goes to sleep. I can open and hit a key and it comes back as normal.
- Sometimes - now certainly over 70% of the time - the machine will have shut down during sleep. This seems to happen only when in battery mode. It's not because the battery is drained, because when I turn it back on, the battery level shows 70% or 50% - nowhere near empty. I am not sure if its a controlled shutdown or just a crash.

Come to think of it - maybe the battery is loose? Has anyone experienced this?

It happened all the time on a recent flight when I put the machine in sleep mode a lot. I am thinking there might be a lot of vibrations in the plane, causing a battery contact to disconnect and shutting the whole thing down...

 

OK sorry to bother everyone but it seems I answered my own question while writing it.

I tested the loose contact theory by putting the 8204 to sleep, then shaking it vigorously. It died.

Subsequently I remembered that there are two battery locks on the 8204. I checked - one was open.

I repeated the test with both locks closed, and - yes, there is a reason for having two, the 8204 withstood the strongest shaking I could come up with with no problems this time around. Case closed.