Having used AnyDVD and CloneDVD for many years without any major problems I now find that if use any version of AnyDVD after 6.1.2.5. the discs created aren't playable either on my laptop or DVD players.

Here are some of the New posts checklist requirements (apologies if I've missed some) -

AnyDVD version working - 6.1.2.5. , have tried 6.1.6.0, 6.5 , 6.7, 6.9.
CloneDVD verison - 2.9.0.9 , have tried 2.9.1.0 and 2.9.1.1

AnyDVD 6.1.2.5. seems to work with CloneDVD 2.9.1.0 and 2.9.1.1.

Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop, MS Win XP Pro SP2, Sony DVD+-RW DW-D56A optical drive.

I've been using Imation DVD+R. Also, have a batch of Verbatim DVD+R which are useless.

The burn speed is MAXIMUM.

I'm not sure whether the problem is anything to do with HD/BluRay? Any help/advice with this would be greatly appreciated.

First off you might want to change the burn speed from MAX and make sure the firmware is updated as well and also not be multitasking when burning as this consumes alot of HDD, memory and CPU resources for desktop or laptop.

There is a new version of Anydvd and CloneDVD2 just now released update and try again also.

The problem has NOTHING to do with HD DVD/BluRay at all. Please upgrade to the latest CloneDVD (2.9.1.2) and latest AnyDVD (6.1.7.0) and use a Verbatim DVD+R to try again. I had that drive in my laptop when I first bought it and it died a horrifying death. It's POSSIBLE your drive is starting to die. Also, make SURE you have the latest firmware for it. Do a search in the hardware forum for "Sony D56A" and you should come up with the latest firmware. I ended up replacing mine with the NEC you see in my signature.