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hypernova:
I've been having power issues with my laptop lately.

Symptoms included:

Shortened battery life
When on battery, shuts down immediately with no warning, and at the time battery still shows lots of power remaining
When after an immediate shutdown, I plug it back in and turn it back on, battery shows no power left
At times, even when plugged in, system still shuts down without warning
Power cord plug (to the laptop) isn't perfectly straight.  Gets warped alot when pressed up against sofas and chairs and whatnot
Battery icon is sensitive to the positioning of the cord.  A slight position change can show the battery is not charging, even when plugged in
Speedfan is installed, and it generally doesn't get any hotter than 85 Celsius, so it doesn't get excessively hot.  Most of the time it's 65-75 while in use

Here's what I've done to fix the problem.  Initially, I just assumed it was a battery issue.  Apparently the included Toshiba battery is around 4000 mah.  I'd say over the two years we've had it, we've hit that, and most likely exceeded it by as much as another 1000 mah.  So I bought a new battery.  As of right now, I'm testing it out.  It seems to be working, mostly.  When I first plugged it in last night, I let it charge for a few hours before I turned it on and used it.  I still ended up having it immediately shut down on me without warning, even while it was plugged in after a few minutes.  I decided to take it apart.  Couldn't find anything, so I just used the occasion to clean off the fan and vents (which seems to have helped immensely with the heating-it's only running about 50 Celsius with Opera going.  I'd say it was hitting 65-70 before.)  Heat definitely wasn't the problem before, as I said, it never got too hot, plus could shut down while even loading the OS.

I have another theory, but I would like to hear that it is definitely possible before I purchase a new one.  I think the power cord may be a problem.  Is it possible (not just your conjecture, but because you actually know the mechanics behind it) that the little connector is somehow shorting out the laptop when it's connected?  I know it's not the receptacle in the laptop.  I hot-glued that thing to make sure it stays in place awhile ago (and when I had it open last night, it hasn't moved a micrometer.  It was originally held in place by thin-walled plastic that easily broke.)  So is it the power cord?

Malenko:
It could be the connector that the power cord plugs into. I had issues on my old compaq laptop, and it happened that my GF had the exact same model laptop; and it had the exact same issue. The connector's solder came loose from the circuit board inside. I had to replace the connector, YMMV.

hypernova:
I just noticed that the power reading for the battery hasn't changed in the time since I've started testing it.  It still shows 100%.  It's been on battery for an hour.

gryhnd:
My old macbook did that. Went down normal for a while then BAM...instant shutdown. Plug it in and the batt showed no charge left.

Bad battery in that case.

An old Sony Vaio had the same thing, but in that case it was a worn out battery.

JONTHEBOMB:
I had similar problems with my laptop (HP Pavilion dv5000) about a year ago.  I bought a new battery and couldn't get it to hold any charge. Then I replaced my AC power adapter and everything has worked fine until last week. 
I found out last week that if I move this second AC power adapter too much some flaky connection inside cuts the power.  So, I'll need another AC power adapter. 

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