Playaway is the name of a solid-state prerecorded audio player introduced in 2005 by Findaway World, LLC, based in Solon, Ohio

Solon, Ohio

Solon is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and is an affluent suburb of Cleveland in the Northeast Ohio Region, the 14th largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 23,348...

. About the size of a deck of playing cards and weighing 2 ounces, it can store up to 80 hours of audio. As of March 2010, the audiobooks are all produced in high definition audio.

The digital content (audiobook or music compilation) is preloaded at the factory and cannot be changed or copied by the end user. A 3.5 mm stereo jack provides output to earphones or an external amplifier. Power is provided by a changeable 1.5V AAA cell, which the manufacturer claims allows it to operate approximately 20 hours before battery depletion, 30 hours for the newer versions. There are approximately 15,000 titles on Playaway, generally priced in-line with the publisher's suggested library pricing for the CD equivalent.

The format is ideal for institutional lending, such as in public and school libraries. Playaway's library website states that it's currently available in over 25,000 schools and libraries. Additionally, the format is circulated in military libraries and gives troops access to audiobooks overseas, where they might not have access to electricity to otherwise read or use a computer.