I understand that with solo mining you broadcast when your find a hash below a certain target. What about pool mining? Do you have to collect all the hashed and send them to the pool every so often? Can someone give me a simple explanation of how that works?
Pretty much what DastanX said. Unless you have some very serious hardware, you want to mine in a pool. Most pools pay out relative to the amount of work you contribute during a given time period. Some do it per time 'shifts' others do it per block, etc. The way they calculate those payouts can differ as well, as well as the fees charged.
Good luck.