Buonasera.
First of all, thanks for the quick responses.
I must say, it's been F*#%* overwhelming, and I consider myself pretty PC-savvy. I not only had to learn for the first time about VR, Arlink, Steam, and SteamVR, (oculus being the friggin same as Meta Quest), brand new Warthog and throttle, but after 15 years, it took quite a while to navigate through the AH settings and mapping again, with the addition of the different VR versions (DX11, Stean AH).
Wow!
So, even though I DID use a quality USB 3.0 high-speed, specifically for VR sets, it was as you guys said. I'll have to get that connector to the vid card.
The device was showing in Meta but not in Steam. Don't ask me how I did it, but I found where to change the connection from cable to wifi and suddenly I had lift off! The problem is that I can't find that setting again.
It's quite a beautiful and surprising experience flying around now. Too bad the AH graphics are antiquated.
It's definitely not a clean system. You have to jump from Air-link to steam and to steamVR, then once in a while, one of these applications closes.
Christ.
My graphics card is actually 1050, yet, it worked out ok. This may explain occasional jumpy graphics and low quality imagery. Thankfully, I don't have to buy a new laptop now. I'm currently in Italy, and the choices and prices are not the same as those found at Best Buy or Costco.
Thanks again for the invaluable tips!
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Now, since you guys are so nice

May I ask for some more help/opinions? There are quite a few, so don't feel obligated to answer them all.
1- Once in a while, I lose the HOTAS mapping - don't know why. Luckily, I saved the config files, so I just paste them back in. I'm just curious to know what causes it.
2- The transitions/movements are not smooth. Is there a setting that can use to make up for the graphics cards' shortcomings?
3- Do the nausea and eye strain go away because of VR, eventually?
4- I used to be a very good AH fighter (it used to piss of REN quite a bit), with excellent aim. I once landed 35 kills in a Tiffy. NOW I can't hit a damn thing, and I think it's because the change to VR and not having the twisty rudder. Is it possible that VR/3D makes it more difficult?
5- Does your Air-Link shut down once in a while? Not during playing, but as I put down the headset, even for a few seconds.
6- The head positions in the cockpit. Christ, if I got frustrated. I don't know what I pressed, but I got the head position stuck outside the cockpit, to the right, and even if I found the key "home" or F5 to put it back, I still think it's not back where it is supposed to be. The gunsight seems to sit a bit too low. How do you re-center it for sure?
7- I can no longer find where I successfully changed from Cable link, to Wifi link connection for the headset (which made it visible to Steam). I tried for like 30 min inside Meta. Any ideas??
8- Last but not least, for the life of me I can't figure out how to bring back the "hands" inside the Meta headset VR environment (even by double tapping the headset to switch to mixed reality). I can only use the two left and right hand controls. Even if I put them down, the hands don't come back to do all the clicking, swiping, and dragging inside the VR environment.
Are you guys familiar with the Quest 3 and how it is done?
Once again, thanks a million.