A couple of points--
PRCs are, and always have been, a poor medium for recording. They don't permit random access, they have a high failure rate and they're more expensive to produce than either LPs or CDs.

CDs are more permanent (and easy to back up) and sound better. My solution to auto playing is to buy a portable CD player with a cassette adaptor. Works fine, lets you play cassettes or Cds (and some let you play self-recorded MP3s) and inexpensive ($50-100 or so).