PowerPivot: linked vs. un-linked tables?

[cr731]

I'm new to PowerPivot, and I've noticed that tables find their way into the PowerPivot Manage window either with a live link to an Excel data table, or not linked, so that changes in the Excel data table are only updated in the PowerPivot window by manually click Update.

Further, once a table is inside the PowerPivot window, it doesn't seem that this "linked" vs. "un-linked" choice can be made, without completely deleting the table and then re-adding.

So I'm wondering... is there a general guideline for when you would want to use a linked table versus not?

Are there advantages/disadvantages to them?

Thanks

 

[scottsen]

i use Linked Tables fairly rarely. Mostly because my data tends to come from somewhere "external", where it is easier to refresh the external CSV, database table, etc... by using Refresh. Linked Tables I will use when I want the user to have some level of interaction. (Say, I am doing a Low/Med/High bucket and want them to be able to adjust the values associated w/ the buckets).

 

[TimRodman]

I didn't realize that there are two flavors of tables in Power Pivot that come from tables in Excel. So you are saying that both the "linked" and "un-linked" tables come from a table in Excel but one refreshes automatically whereas the other only refreshes when you click a button?

Are you sure that the "un-linked" table that you are talking about can actually be refreshed? I know that you can paste data into the Power Pivot window which essentially makes it an "un-linked" table, but then you can't refresh it, not even manually.