Here's the problem. The 7290 is slightly deeper than the 7230, so it becomes a tighter fit for the standard-issue RIM leather case. Add egrips, and it becomes very difficult to insert or remove the 7290 from the case.

The solution? Install the egrips but leave off the large piece that goes on the back. Then stretch out the leather case to accommodate the larger Blackberry. I used my old egrip-equipped (say that five times real fast) 7230 with a thick piece of cardboard wedged between the screen and the leather case.


Handy Dandy Case Stretching Tool

After several days of stretching, my semi-egrip-equipped 7290 slides in and out with only a minimum amount of resistance.


Newly Expanded Leather Case

Of course, now it's way too big for a 7230 without egrips. For our next project, we'll spray the stretched case with water, place it in a dryer, and check to see if it goes back to the original shape.

DavidE
www.davidenglish.com

RIM had this leather holster re-designed to allow for the larger profiles of the 7250 and 7290 models. The new part number is ACC-08582-001 and it has an expanded elastic down the side (longer) to allow some more stretch. It can be used for the older models as well (7210, 30 and 80) but was mainly re-designed for the newer, wider profile handhelds. The model you have is ACC-05150-001 which is rather tight on the newer models.

Thanks for the update. That would be the better long-term solution.

DavidE
www.davidenglish

Let's not forget the ACC-05505-024 which is the same as ACC-08582-001.

If interested - Look here for direct compare http://www.smartphonedepot.com/produ...y/7290case.htm

as an interesting aside... do they make a case that will fit a 7250/7290 with the extended battery?

The case that I mentioned above will fit the extended battery - note that these leather cases (made by RIM and others) are designed with some stretch in mind. They rely on this stretch to provide some surface tension to keep the BB in the case. With the extended battery they simply stretch a bit more at the bottom.

We get calls everyday about the RIM leather case being so tight we must have sent the wrong thing... a week or so of daily use and that is no longer an issue. If you look a the photos I linked we created that page because a customer was going apoplectic over the case and thought we were trying to hoodwink them somehow because we didn't sell the ACC-08582-001 (only available in CAN at the moment). ACC-08582-001 is not available in the USA. Did I mention you cant get the ACC-08582-001 here?

I would recommend the ACC-05505-024 for it's additional stretch to handle the EXt Battery.

Cheers

Will the older model fit the 7250 with the extended battery. If i had known that the oter model had elongated elastic, i would have opted for that model.